TOP NOWS

The North Korea-Russia relationship

Putin to North Korea - arriving tomorrow

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea on June 18-19. This is reported by Reuters with reference to state-owned Russian Tass.

The US and South Korea have previously expressed concern about the visit. The countries' deputy foreign ministers, Kim Hong-kyun and Kurt Campbell, spoke to each other by phone last week. Then, among other things, deepened military cooperation between North Korea and Russia will be discussed.

During the trip, Putin will also visit Vietnam on June 19-20.

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The US-China relationship

Xi: The US is trying to provoke attack on Taiwan

Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping allegedly warned European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that the United States was trying to provoke a Chinese attack on Taiwan, writes the Financial Times with reference to sources.

The two leaders met in April 2023 and during the meeting the Chinese president is said to have issued his warning. According to sources, Xi said that the US was trying to "deceive" China but that the country "will not take the bait", the newspaper writes.

The FT has spoken to Bonnie Glaser at the American think tank German Marshall Fund. She believes that Xi's warning may have been an attempt to get Europe to distance itself from the US on the Taiwan issue.

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New European Commission
"French-German engine" out of play - but no big surprises are expected at the meeting

On Monday evening, 27 heads of state and government will meet in Brussels for an informal dinner. There, they will discuss the EU election results and begin work on dividing up the EU's top jobs.

Right-wing winds blew in the election and the dynamics around the table may have changed. The "Franco-German engine" that usually drives the EU weakened, AP writes. But it is unlikely after all that Emmanuel Macron or Olaf Scholz would present any major surprises, according to the news agency.

Rather, most people seem to agree that a quick process is desirable and there are many indications that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen - whose future has been widely discussed - will remain.

In an interview with the German TV channel Welt yesterday, Chancellor Scholz said that "everything indicates that there could be a second term for Ursula von der Leyen".