of russia, but has been courted by other major countries. president biden was there in september last year. commentators suggest president putin s visit to vietnam is designed to show the world that russia is not isolated from asia. he flew directly to hanoi from pyongyang, where he and kim jong un signed a pact to help each other in the case of aggression. the bbc s shaimaa khalil reports from south korea. vladimir putin s pyongyang trip was choreographed to a t, with some surreal, made for tv moments, like this one of him driving kim jong un on the streets of pyongyang. earlier, kim il sung square, at the heart of the north korean capital, was buzzing with crowds and colour, as the two globally isolated leaders revelled in each other s company and what mr kim described as a new level of alliance. translation: we highlyl appreciate your consistent and unwavering support for russian policy, including the ukrainian direction. i mean, ourfight against the hegemonic imperialist
dmytro kuleba in kyiv, welcome to hardtalk. it s good to be with you again, stephen. it s great to have you back on the show. you have just arrived back in kyiv from a round of intensive diplomacy, including that so called peace summit in switzerland. for all of the talking, what have you actually achieved in practical terms? well, with the utmost respect, there is nothing so called in the summit that we held. it was indeed a peace summit convened upon the initiative of ukraine, based on the peace formula put forward by president zelensky. this formula is based on the principles of international law and the un charter. we had 100 participants countries and international organisations and one of the most important deliverables is the following putin keeps making the point that the whole war that he launched against ukraine is ukraine and the west fighting on the one side, and russia and the rest of the world fighting on the other side. and this is simply not true. and
reception and signed a mutual defence agreement with leader kim jong un. the pact would see russia and north korea help each other in the event of aggression against either country. north korea s leader called the agreement a new high level of alliance , sparking concerns in western countries. but the full details of the pact, and its consequences, remain unclear. you during those talks, kim jong un supported moscow s moscow s invasion of ukraine. in response, kyiv has called for a more rigorous global effort to isolate russia and north korea. the bbc sjean mackenzie has more on the view from ukraine. mahela pareja moeaki x10 president zelenskyyclosest advisers and has come out saying this meeting is proof north korea is now providing russia with the resources it needs to kill ukrainians. now what he is referring to is what the ukrainians but also the us, the ukrainians but also the us, the uk, south korea have been saying for some time now, which is that north korea is p
for comment and has not offered a response. yesterday, it emerged a police officer from the prime minister s protection team had been arrested and bailed in connection with similar allegations. here is our political editor chris mason. this was the prime minister in suffolk visiting a nuclear power plant. wherever he goes he has close protection officers out a view nearby. i was tipped off to that one of them had put that s on the timing of the general election, the mitch bolton believe acknowledging i was right. they were informed by the gabler commission, the regulator, on friday. they said the matter was immediately referred to offices in the mat was immediately referred to offices in the met police directorate of professional standards who opened investigation and the officer was also removed from operational duties. the officer was subsequently arrested on monday 17 was subsequently arrested on monday i7june on suspicion of misconduct in public office. he was taken into
against either country. north korea s leader called the agreement a new high level of alliance, sparking concerns in western countries. but the full details of the pact and its consequences remain unclear. following the deal between the two nuclear powers, nato secretary general jens stoltenberg said: on the other side of the dmz, some south koreans say they re worried about how this new agreement could affect their safety. translation: we re still- a divided country, and war can happen at any time. under the circumstances, if north korea and russia have closer ties, it would have a negative impact on our country as russia can give military cooperation to the north when war occurs. translation: i m worried what if war breaks out - as putin and north korea are having a such close relationship. north korea recently sent off rubbish balloons and north korean soldiers crossed into the border often. let s get the latest on this trip. we can speak to our china correspondent laura