Russia Plans Joint Military Exercises With North Korea

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Russia entered into preliminary negotiations with North Korea, Brazil, Cuba and Vietnam regarding joint naval and air force drills

Russia is planning to conduct joint military exercises with North Korea and other nations, according to Russian Chief-of-Staff Valery Gerasimov.

“We are going to conduct a series of joint naval and air force exercises, as well as joint drills of our ground troops and air assault troops,” said Gerasimov.

Russia entered preliminary talks with four countries

Gerasimov indicated during a meeting last Saturday that Russia intends to expand the communication lines of the country’s military command. According to him, Russia entered into preliminary negotiations with North Korea, Brazil, Cuba and Vietnam.

The meeting was attended by Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and the heads of all the branches of the country’s armed forces.

Russia responds to current international isolation

Steven Pifer, a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine commented that Russia’s planned joint military exercises a response to its current international isolation. The Russian’s government continued to deny involvement in the conflict.

Pifer said, “The Russian military may be reaching out to other countries as part of Moscow’s effort to show that it is not isolated, despite the very negative international reaction to Russian aggression against Ukraine.”

He doesn’t believe that Russia intention to establish new military partnerships with the four countries would go further. Pifer said he will be astonished to see the military troops of Russia and North Korea engaged in joint military exercises.

Pres. Putin wants to expand Russia’s role in the arms trade

The United States and the European Union increased sanctions against Russia due to its involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. Some of the sanctions include travel bans and asset freezes on Russian businesses and individuals.

Last month, Russia’s envoy to OSCE, Andrei Kelin appealed to Washington to “stop indulging Ukraine’s party of war,” and warned that “only a big catastrophe can result from such developments.”

Separately, the Russian government outlined a $35 billion plan designed to overcome the economic sanctions imposed by the EU and the U.S. One of the priorities of the ant-crisis plan is to recapitalize banks (1 trillion ruble) by issuing government bonds.

Last week, President Vladimir Putin expressed his desire to expand Russia’s role in the arms trade across Latin America and Far East.

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