MOSCOW: The Kremlin on Friday declined to comment on reports that North Korean soldiers fighting with Russia’s army had been pulled back from the front line.
Western, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence agencies say Pyongyang had deployed more than 10,000 troops to support Russia’s forces fighting in its western Kursk region, where Ukraine is mounting a cross-border offensive.
Citing US and Ukrainian officials, the New York Times on Thursday reported that the North Korean troops had been pulled back from the front and had not been seen fighting there for around two weeks, after suffering heavy casualties in combat.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak on Wednesday said that “some North Korean units have been pulled back from the front line in the Kursk region, according to reports from Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces.”
Asked on Friday about the reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment.
“There are a lot of different arguments out there, both right and wrong,” he told reporters.
“It’s not worth commenting on every time,” he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has published footage of what he said were captured North Korean soldiers taken by Ukraine’s forces in the Kursk region.
Kyiv and the West decried the deployment of North Korean fighters as a major escalation in the three-year conflict.
Kremlin declines to comment on reports N.Koreans withdrawn from front
https://arab.news/6gnt7
Kremlin declines to comment on reports N.Koreans withdrawn from front
- Citing US and Ukrainian officials, the New York Times on Thursday reported that the North Korean troops had been pulled back from the front and had not been seen fighting there
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “There are a lot of different arguments out there, both right and wrong“
Private US spaceship hours from Moon landing attempt
- Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 is targeting landing no sooner than 3:34 a.m. US Eastern time (0834 GMT) on Sunday
- Landing site target is near Mons Latreille, a volcanic feature in Mare Crisium on the Moon’s northeastern near side
WASHINGTON: After a long journey through space, a US company is just hours away from attempting a daring lunar touchdown — its spacecraft poised to become only the second private lander to achieve the feat if it succeeds.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 is targeting landing no sooner than 3:34 a.m. US Eastern time (0834 GMT) on Sunday, aiming for a site near Mons Latreille, a volcanic feature in Mare Crisium on the Moon’s northeastern near side.
“Blue Ghost is ready to take the wheel!” the company posted on X on Saturday evening, adding flight controllers had just initiated a key maneuver that lowers a spacecraft’s orbit.
Nicknamed “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” the mission comes just over a year after the first-ever commercial lunar landing and is part of a NASA partnership with industry to cut costs and support Artemis, the program aiming to return astronauts to the Moon.
The golden lander, about the size of a hippopotamus, launched on January 15 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, capturing stunning footage of Earth and the Moon along the way. It shared a ride with a Japanese company’s lander set to attempt a landing in May.
Blue Ghost carries ten instruments, including a lunar soil analyzer, a radiation-tolerant computer and an experiment testing the feasibility of using the existing global satellite navigation system to navigate the Moon.
Designed to operate for a full lunar day (14 Earth days), Blue Ghost is expected to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse on March 14, when Earth blocks the Sun from the Moon’s horizon.
On March 16, it will record a lunar sunset, offering insights into how dust levitates above the surface under solar influence — creating the mysterious lunar horizon glow first documented by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan.
Blue Ghost’s arrival will be followed on March 6 by Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission, featuring its lander Athena.
In February 2024, Intuitive Machines became the first private company to achieve a soft lunar landing — also the first US landing since the crewed Apollo 17 mission of 1972.
However, the success was tempered by a mishap: the lander came down too fast, tipped over on impact, leaving it unable to generate enough solar power and cutting the mission short.
This time, the company says it has made key improvements to the hexagonal-shaped lander, which has a taller, slimmer profile than Blue Ghost, and is around the height of an adult giraffe.
Athena launched on Wednesday aboard a SpaceX rocket, taking a more direct route toward Mons Mouton — the southernmost lunar landing site ever attempted.
Its payloads include three rovers, a drill to search for ice and the star of the show: a first-of-its-kind hopping drone designed to explore the Moon’s rugged terrain.
Landing on the Moon presents unique challenges due to the absence of an atmosphere, making parachutes ineffective.
Instead, spacecraft must rely on precisely controlled thruster burns to slow their descent.
Until Intuitive Machines’ first successful mission, only five national space agencies had accomplished this feat: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India and Japan, in that order.
Now, the United States is working to make private lunar missions routine through NASA’s $2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
The missions come at a delicate moment for NASA, amid speculation that it may scale back or even cancel its Artemis lunar program in favor of prioritizing Mars exploration — a key goal of both President Donald Trump and his close adviser, SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
Trump’s Oval Office thrashing of Zelensky shows limits of Western allies’ ability to sway US leader
- White House blowout capped a week of largely futile efforts by US allies to steer Trump away from his flirtations with Moscow
- Sen. Lindsey Graham said he had warned Zelensky before the meeting “not to take the bait” in his dealings with Trump
WASHINGTON: All it took was 90 seconds for weeks of tortured diplomacy to unwind in spectacular fashion.
President Donald Trump’s Oval Office thrashing of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday laid bare the limits of a full-court press by America’s allies aimed at reshaping Trump’s determination to end Russia’s invasion even if the terms are not to Ukraine’s liking.
It also stressed the profound ways Trump feels emboldened to redirect US foreign policy priorities toward his “America First” agenda in ways that extend well beyond those of his tumultuous first term.
The sudden blowup was the most heated public exchange of words between world leaders in the Oval Office in memory, as the usual staid work of diplomacy descended into finger-pointing, shouting and eye-rolling.
The encounter left the future of the US-Ukraine relationship, and Kyiv’s ability to defend itself in the brutal conflict with Russia, in mortal jeopardy.
“You either make a deal or we are out,” Trump told Zelensky, underscoring the American leader’s plans to dictate a swift end to the war or leave its longtime ally to continue the fight without its strongest backer.
Less than a day later, Zelensky used a series of posts on X to express his thanks to the American people, Trump and Congress for “all the support,” which he said Ukrainians “have always appreciated,” especially during the war.
“Our relationship with the American President is more than just two leaders; it’s a historic and solid bond between our peoples. That’s why I always begin with words of gratitude from our nation to the American nation,” he added. Ukrainians want “only strong relations with America, and I really hope we will have them,” he said.
Zelensky was in London to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer before a summit Sunday of European leaders.
Episode capped intense lobbying effort by American allies
The stunning episode in Washington had capped a week of what turned out to be largely futile efforts by US allies to paper over differences between Washington and Kyiv and to try to steer Trump away from his flirtations with Moscow.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron huddled with Trump to lay the groundwork for an eventual European-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine aimed at deterring future Russian aggression and to encourage the US president to be more skeptical of Vladimir Putin.
But even as Trump and Macron greeted each other with a vise-like grip, the US was splitting with its European allies at the United Nations by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in a series of resolutions marking the third anniversary of the war.
On Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Washington and appealed to Trump for a US “backstop” for European nations who would provide front-line security for Ukraine. He was in essence looking for insurance that, should a peace deal be reached, Russia won’t restart the fighting in the future. Starmer brought flattery and a state visit invitation from King Charles III to soften the ask.
The approach seemed to work, as Trump struck a more conciliatory tone toward Ukraine, calling America’s support for the country against Russia’s invasion “a very worthy thing to do” and disclaiming any memory that he had called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator.”
But Trump also brushed aside Putin’s past broken diplomatic promises, claiming they occurred under different presidents, and saying the Russian leader had never violated a commitment to him. It came as his aides were planning a series of negotiating sessions with Russian officials to lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between Trump and Putin in the coming weeks.
Mineral deal pursued by Trump goes by the wayside, for now
All the while, Trump was focused on securing a financial stake in Ukraine’s critical minerals to recoup the tens of billions the US has given to Kyiv to defend itself. Zelensky, meanwhile, wanted more than Washington’s vague promises that the US would work to preserve its economic interest in Ukraine under the agreement and pushed for more concrete security guarantees.
But Trump would not budge, and US officials repeatedly said Zelensky would not be welcome to meet with the president to discuss Trump’s push for negotiations with Russia until it was signed. After weeks of browbeating, Zelensky’s government on Wednesday formally agreed to the proposal, clearing the path for Friday’s meeting.
It started off cordially enough, as Trump and Zelensky spoke politely, even with admiration, of one of another for the first half-hour of the meeting. Trump even suggested he would continue some military assistance to Ukraine until he could secure an enduring peace deal with Russia.
But when the Ukrainian leader raised alarm about trusting any promises from Putin to end the fighting, Vice President JD Vance rebuked him for airing disagreements with Trump in public. It instantly shifted the tenor of the conversation. Zelensky grew defensive, and Trump and his vice president blasted him as ungrateful and “disrespectful” and issued stark warnings about future American support.
A warning before the meeting ‘not to take the bait’
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a defense hawk and Trump ally, said he had warned Zelensky before the meeting “not to take the bait” in his dealings with Trump, who has repeatedly shown a penchant for throwing criticism but a deep resistance to receiving it.
It was Vance — a longtime critic of American support for Ukraine — who dangled it, when he insisted diplomacy was the only way forward.
“What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?” Zelensky said, listing Russia’s past violations of ceasefires. “What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country,” Vance responded before tearing into the Ukrainian leader. “Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”
Trump then let loose, warning the Ukrainian leader, “You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have.”
At another point, Trump declared himself “in the middle,” seeming to formally break from years of American support for Ukraine. He went on to deride Zelensky’s “hatred” for Putin as a roadblock to peace.
“You see the hatred he’s got for Putin,” Trump said. “That’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate.”
“It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this,” Trump said to Zelensky as the two leaders talked over each other.
Latest example of major shift in US foreign policy
The episode was just the latest instance of Trump’s brazen moves to shift long-held American policy positions in his first six weeks back in office, portending even more uncertainty ahead for longtime American allies and partners who have already felt pressed to justify their place in Trump’s eyes. It comes just weeks after Trump floated a permanent relocation of Palestinians in Gaza and an American takeover of the territory, and as he has doubled down on plans to put stiff tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada starting next week.
After the Oval Office dustup, Zelensky was asked to leave the White House by top Trump advisers — scrapping plans for a lunch, a joint press conference and the signing of the economic agreement, even as the Ukrainian leader and his aides pushed for a “reset” on the meeting.
Trump later told reporters he didn’t want to “embolden” the Ukrainian leader if he didn’t want “peace” with Russia — flipping what Ukraine had seen as an inducement for security guarantees into a cudgel.
“You can’t embolden somebody who does not have the cards,” Trump said.
After the disastrous encounter, Zelensky appeared on Fox News on Friday evening and told Bret Baier that his public spat with Trump and Vance was “not good for both sides.” But Zelensky said Trump — who insists Putin is ready to end the three-year grinding war — needs to understand that Ukraine can’t change its attitudes toward Russia on a dime.
Zelensky added that Ukraine won’t enter peace talks with Russia until it has security guarantees against another offensive.
“Everybody (is) afraid Putin will come back tomorrow,” Zelensky said. “We want just and lasting peace.”
“It’s so sensitive for our people,” Zelensky said. “And they just want to hear that America (is) on our side, that America will stay with us. Not with Russia, with us. That’s it.”
Zelensky acknowledged that without US support, his country’s position would grow “difficult.”
After repeatedly declining opportunities to apologize to Trump, Zelensky closed his Fox appearance with a sheepish expression of remorse as he struggled with the reality of Trump’s new direction in Washington: “Sorry for this.”
Afghan TV station reopens after closure by Taliban authorities
- The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC), a press freedom group, welcomed the reopening but said in a statement it considered the closure “a flagrant violation of free media rights that should not have happened”
KABUL: An Afghan TV station resumed operations Saturday, its leadership said, after being shut down in December by the Taliban morality ministry.
Seals placed on Arezo TV’s doors in Kabul were removed in the presence of the country’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV), said station head Bassir Abid, who reported that the outlet had “resumed our operations.”
Taliban authorities shut down the TV station on December 4 after the PVPV accused the channel of being supported by exiled media and of betraying Islamic values.
Seven of Arezo TV’s employees were arrested but released later in December, while the media outlet remained shuttered.
The Taliban government has not yet indicated the reason the station was allowed to reopen.
The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC), a press freedom group, welcomed the reopening but said in a statement it considered the closure “a flagrant violation of free media rights that should not have happened.”
The channel, founded in 2006 in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, opened an office in Kabul in 2010 to produce wildlife documentaries and dub Turkish series, according to AFJC.
Afghanistan’s media sector has dramatically shrunk under three years of the Taliban government, while international monitors have criticized Kabul’s new rulers for allegedly trampling reporters’ rights.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says the country’s Taliban authorities closed at least 12 media outlets in 2024.
Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has previously said there are no restrictions on journalists, as long as they “consider the national interest and Islamic values and avoid spreading rumors.”
In early February, Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities raided well-known women’s radio station Radio Begum in Kabul and suspended its broadcasts.
Starmer assures Ukraine’s President Zelensky of Britain’s unwavering support after White House blowout
- Starmer spoke to both US President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron after meeting Zelensky
- Britain announces $2.84 billion loan to Kyiv for military procurement, with the money coming from the profits on frozen Russian assets
LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer embraced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday and told him he had the UK’s unwavering support, a day after the blowout at the White House with President Donald Trump.
Zelensky arrived to cheers from people who had gathered outside of 10 Downing St., where Starmer gave him a hug and ushered him inside. The two leaders met on the eve of a meeting of European leaders in London. Called to discuss how European nations can defend Ukraine — and themselves — if the US withdraws support, it has taken on new urgency following Trump’s televised berating of Zelensky.
“And as you heard from the cheers on the street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom,” Starmer told the leader of the war-torn country. “We stand with you, with Ukraine, for as long as it may take.”
Zelensky thanked him and the people of the UK for their support and friendship.
After the meeting, Britain announced it was extending a 2.26 billion pound ($2.84 billion) loan to Kyiv for military procurement, with the money coming from the profits on frozen Russian assets. It’s Britain’s contribution to a $50 billion package of support pledged by the G-7 group of wealthy industrialized nations.
Zelensky thanked Britain in a statement on X, saying: “This is true justice – the one who started the war must be the one to pay.”
Starmer spoke to both Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday evening after meeting Zelensky, the prime minister’s office said.
The meeting comes the day after an extraordinary diplomatic meltdown when Trump and Vice President JD Vance blasted Zelensky in the Oval Office on live television for not being grateful enough for US support.
Zelensky had been poised to ink a deal to give the US access to mineral riches as Trump pressures Ukraine to reach a deal to end the war with Russia. But he left town without signing anything.
Zelensky had been scheduled to meet with Starmer on Sunday before the European summit, but the timetable for their bilateral meeting was apparently sped up in the aftermath of the Washington visit.
Zelensky will meet with King Charles III on Sunday before the meeting at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace.
Trump-Zelensky clash divides US Republicans, dims aid prospects
- GOP stalwart Lindsey Graham called for Zelensky to change his tune or resign, just hours after attending a friendly meeting between Zelensky and a dozen senators
- But even as most Republicans rallied behind Trump and Vance, some joined Democrats in defending Ukraine.
WASHINGTON: An angry White House clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump divided the US president’s fellow Republicans and dimmed prospects that Congress will approve any further aid for Kyiv in its war with Russia.
On Saturday, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said there were “whispers from the White House that they may try to end all US support for Ukraine... I am sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and US values around the world.”
Other Republicans who had long supported Ukraine lashed out at Zelensky after Friday’s exchange, in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian leader before the world’s media, accusing him of disrespect.
Senator Lindsey Graham called for Zelensky to change his tune or resign, just hours after attending a friendly meeting between Zelensky and a dozen senators.
“What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelensky again,” Graham, a close Trump ally, told reporters as he left the White House after the clash, which drove relations with Kyiv’s most important wartime ally to a new low.
“He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change,” the South Carolina senator said.
Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, who was ambassador to Japan during Trump’s first term, posted on X: “The United States of America will no longer be taken for granted.”
But even as most Republicans rallied behind Trump and Vance, some joined Democrats in defending Ukraine.
New York Representative Mike Lawler, in a post on X, called the Oval Office meeting “a missed opportunity for both the United States and Ukraine — an agreement that would undoubtedly result in stronger economic and security cooperation.”
Representative Don Bacon, a moderate Republican from Nebraska, threw his support behind Kyiv.
“A bad day for America’s foreign policy. Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom,” he said in a statement.
Neither of the Republican lawmakers criticized Trump or Vance.
Minerals deal
Zelensky was in Washington to sign an agreement to jointly develop Ukraine’s rich natural resources with the United States.
The Ukrainian leader had seen the meeting with Trump and Vance as an opportunity to persuade the US not to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin in his war with Moscow’s smaller neighbor. Instead, Zelensky was told to leave and the agreement was left unsigned.
Kyiv’s backers had hoped the deal would help win more support from Trump’s Republicans — who hold slim majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives — for future aid.
Congress has approved $175 billion in assistance since Putin launched his full-scale invasion three years ago, but the last measure passed in April, when Democrats controlled the Senate and Democrat Joe Biden was in the White House.
Even then, congressional Republicans slow-walked the bill under pressure from candidate Trump, who has been skeptical of further military aid to Ukraine, leading to delays in delivering weapons that put Ukrainian troops on the back foot in the battlefield.
If Trump, the party leader, had skin in the game and was promoting a “very big” minerals deal he had negotiated, analysts said, it would likely have rallied Republican support for Ukraine aid.
Some Republicans who have advocated for assisting Ukraine said they hoped relations could be rebuilt.
Representative Michael McCaul, chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he still hoped for a real and lasting peace that ensures Ukraine would be free from further Russian aggression.
“I also urge President Zelensky to sign the mineral deal immediately,” the Texas lawmaker posted on X. “It will create an economic partnership between the United States and Ukraine. It is in both of our interests to get this deal done.”
