Lavrov

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov has warned NATO and the European Union that “any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response”.

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Saturday, Lavrov insisted that Moscow had no plans to attack the West, but that it was prepared to act if provoked.

His comments came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia for recent drone and plane incursions in Europe.

“Russia is testing their ability to defend themselves and trying to influence societies so people begin to ask: ‘If we can’t protect ourselves, why should we keep supporting Ukraine?’. This is intended to reduce assistance to Ukraine, especially ahead of winter,” he wrote on X.

Moscow continues to deny violating Polish airspace with drones, and Estonian airspace with fighter jets, this month. It also says it played no role in the rogue drones spotted near airports in Denmark this week, which forced several airports to shut temporarily.

‘Some hopes’ for US-brokered peace

In his UN speech, Lavrov hit out at accusations from the West, blaming it for scaremongering about the possibility of a “third world war”.

“Russia is being accused of almost planning to attack NATO and EU countries. President [Vladimir] Putin has repeatedly debunked these provocations,” he said.

But Lavrov also insisted that his country still had “some hopes” for ceasefire talks with the United States over Moscow’s war in Ukraine, just days after US President Donald Trump appeared to align himself more closely with Kyiv by saying it could recapture all of the Ukrainian territory seized by Russia.

Trump’s comments, which were made after he met Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the UNGA, marked a significant change in tone. Previously, the US president had said that Kyiv needed to make concessions, arguing that it would never reclaim occupied territory seized by Russia since 2014.

Despite Trump’s statement on Tuesday, Lavrov still expressed a belief in the role of the US as a potential mediator.

“We have some hopes for the continuation of the Russian-American dialogue, especially after the summit in Alaska,” he told delegates at the UN headquarters on Saturday.

The Russian foreign minister suggested that the Trump administration wanted to “realistically resolve the Ukrainian crisis”.

“Russia and the US bear a special responsibility for the state of affairs in the world and for avoiding risks that could plunge humanity into a new war,” he added.

More villages taken in Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions

Lavrov’s appearance at the UN followed claims by Russia on Saturday that it had captured three more villages in eastern Ukraine.

The Russian army said in a statement that it had taken the villages of Derylove and Maiske in the Donetsk region, and the settlement of Stepove in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said it had launched a successful drone attack against an oil pumping facility in Russia’s Chuvashia region.

“The SBU [Ukrainian security service] continues to impose sanctions on the Russian oil sector, which brings the aggressor country excess profits that go to the war against Ukraine,” a Ukrainian official told Reuters.

An overnight Russian barrage killed one person and wounded 12 in Ukraine’s southeastern Kherson region, and damaged railways in the neighbouring Odesa region, according to the Ukrainian authorities.

As Kyiv attempts to improve its air defences to stop Russian missile and drone attacks, Zelenskyy said on Saturday that a Ukrainian delegation would head to the US for weapons talks in late September or early October.

Ukraine’s president added that his country had received a US-made Patriot air defence system from Israel a month ago, with two more expected to arrive later this year.

On Saturday, both Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for a four-day blackout at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Although outages are common, it is the longest so far in the war.

The plant’s six reactors have been off since Moscow seized it shortly after its full-scale invasion in February 2022. However, the facility still needs power to keep its cooling and safety systems operating to prevent its reactors from melting.

North Korean officials have “reaffirmed their support for all objectives” in the Russia-Ukraine war, says Russian FM.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea, during which Pyongyang reaffirmed its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine in which thousands of its soldiers have been killed.

Lavrov “was received” by Kim, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Telegram on Saturday, posting a video of the two men shaking hands and embracing in Wonsan. Russian and North Korean state media had announced the visit earlier, saying Lavrov would stay until Sunday.

It is the latest in a series of high-profile trips by top Moscow officials to North Korea as the countries deepen military and political ties with a focus on Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.

Pyongyang has become one of Moscow’s main allies during its more than three-year-long war in Ukraine, sending thousands of troops and conventional weapons to help the Kremlin remove Ukrainian forces from Kursk in Russia.

More than 6,000 North Korean soldiers have died in the Russia-Ukraine war, according to British Defence Intelligence.

North Korea has also agreed to dispatch 6,000 military engineers and builders to help reconstruction efforts there.

The South Korean intelligence service has said North Korea may be preparing to deploy additional troops in July or August.

The United States and South Korea have expressed concern that, in return, Kim may seek Russian technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by his nuclear-armed military.

Earlier on Saturday, Lavrov met with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui in Wonsan, a city on the country’s east coast, where a huge resort was opened earlier this month.

“We exchanged views on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis … Our Korean friends confirmed their firm support for all the objectives of the special military operation, as well as for the actions of the Russian leadership and armed forces,” Russian news agency TASS quoted Lavrov as saying.

He also thanked the “heroic” North Korean soldiers, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

In April, the two countries officially confirmed the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia for the first time, saying these troops had helped Russia to recapture the Kursk region – a claim contested by Ukraine.

Since then, Kim has been shown in state media paying tribute in front of flag-draped coffins of North Korean soldiers.

Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu has visited Pyongyang multiple times this year.

The two heavily sanctioned nations signed a sweeping military deal last November, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korea. Pyongyang has reportedly been directly arming Moscow to support its war in Ukraine.

In the meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Friday that US weapons shipments to his country had resumed, following the Pentagon’s decision to briefly halt the delivery of certain weapons to Kyiv over fears that US stockpiles were dwindling.

The US will deliver military supplies and send its envoy Keith Kellogg to Kyiv early next week, said Zelenskyy.

China has agreed to sign a Southeast Asian treaty banning nuclear weapons, Malaysia’s and China’s foreign ministers confirmed, in a move that seeks to shield the area from rising global security tensions amid the threat of imminent United States tariffs.

The pledge from Beijing was welcomed as diplomats gathered for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers’ meeting, where US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also due to meet regional counterparts and Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

Malaysia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamad Hasan told reporters on Thursday that China had confirmed its willingness to sign the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) treaty – an agreement in force since 1997 that restricts nuclear activity in the region to peaceful purposes such as energy generation.

“China made a commitment to ensure that they will sign the treaty without reservation,” Hasan said, adding that the formal signing will take place once all relevant documentation is completed.

ASEAN has long pushed for the world’s five recognised nuclear powers – China, the United States, Russia, France and the United Kingdom – to sign the pact and respect the region’s non-nuclear status, including within its exclusive economic zones and continental shelves.

Last week, Beijing signalled its readiness to support the treaty and lead by example among nuclear-armed states.

Rubio, who is on his first visit to Asia as secretary of state, arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday amid a cloud of uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff strategy, which includes new levies on six ASEAN nations as well as key traditional allies Japan and South Korea.

The tariffs, set to take effect on August 1, include a 25 percent duty on Malaysia, 32 percent on Indonesia, 36 percent on Cambodia and Thailand, and 40 percent on Laos and Myanmar.

Japan and South Korea have each been hit with 25 percent tariffs, while Australia – another significant Asia Pacific ally – has reacted angrily to threats of a 200 percent duty on pharmaceutical exports to the US.

Vietnam, an ASEAN nation, along with the UK, are the only two countries to have signed separate trade deals with the US, whose administration had boasted they would have 90 deals in 90 days.

The US will place a lower-than-promised 20 percent tariff on many Vietnamese exports, Trump has said, cooling tensions with its 10th-biggest trading partner days before he could raise levies on most imports. Any transshipments from third countries through Vietnam will face a 40 percent levy, Trump said, announcing the trade deal on Wednesday. Vietnam would accept US products with a zero percent tariff, he added.

Reporting from Kuala Lumpur, Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride says Southeast Asian nations are finding themselves at the centre of intensifying diplomatic competition, as global powers look to strengthen their influence in the region.

“The ASEAN countries are facing some of the highest tariffs from the Trump administration,” McBride said. “They were also among the first to receive new letters announcing yet another delay in the imposition of these tariffs, now pushed to 1 August.”

The uncertainty has pushed ASEAN states to seek alternative trade partners, most notably China. “These tariffs have provided an impetus for all of these ASEAN nations to seek out closer trade links with other parts of the world,” McBride added.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has been in Kuala Lumpur for meetings with ASEAN counterparts, underscoring Beijing’s growing engagement.

Meanwhile, Russia’s top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, has also been holding talks in Malaysia, advancing Moscow’s vision of a “multipolar world order” – a concept backed by China that challenges what they see as a Western-led global system dominated by the US.

“Lavrov might be shunned in other parts of the world,” McBride noted, “but he is here in Malaysia, meeting with ASEAN members and promoting this alternative global structure.”

At the same time, Rubio is aiming to counter that narrative and ease tensions. “Many ASEAN members are traditional allies of the United States,” McBride said. “But they are somewhat nervous about the tariffs and recent US foreign policy moves. Rubio is here to reassure them that all is well in trans-Pacific relations.”

As geopolitical rivalry intensifies, ASEAN finds itself courted from all directions, with the power to influence the future shape of international alliances.

US seeks to rebuild confidence in ASEAN

Rubio’s presence in Kuala Lumpur signals Washington, DC’s intention to revive its Asia Pacific focus following years of prioritising conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.

The last meeting between Rubio and Russia’s top diplomats took place in Saudi Arabia in February as part of the Trump administration’s effort to re-establish bilateral relations and help negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

Analysts say Rubio faces a difficult task of rebuilding confidence with Southeast Asian countries unnerved by the US’s trade policies. Despite the economic fallout, he is expected to try and promote the US as a more dependable alternative to China in terms of both security and long-term investment.

According to a draft communique obtained by Reuters, ASEAN foreign ministers will express “concern over rising global trade tensions and growing uncertainties in the international economic landscape, particularly the unilateral actions relating to tariffs”.

Separately, a meeting involving top diplomats from Southeast Asia, China, Russia and the United States will condemn violence against civilians in war-torn Myanmar, according to a draft statement seen Thursday by AFP.

ASEAN has led diplomatic efforts to end Myanmar’s many-sided civil war sparked by a military coup in 2021.