NATO urges Seoul to increase its military support to Ukraine, and Russia considers it useless to talk to Kyiv after supplying it with tanks

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged South Korea to increase military support to Ukraine, suggesting it should review its policy of not arming belligerent countries.

Meanwhile, Russia considered it useless to talk to Kyiv in light of Washington and its allies racing to supply Ukraine with tanks.

Stoltenberg is in Seoul, the first stop on a tour that also includes Japan and is aimed at strengthening ties with US allies amid the war in Ukraine and growing competition with China.

Speaking at the Choi Jong-hyun Institute for Geostrategic Studies in Seoul, Stoltenberg thanked the South Korean government for its non-combat assistance to Ukraine but urged it to do more, adding that there was an "urgent need" for ammunition.

South Korea is an important global arms exporter, and has recently signed contracts to sell hundreds of tanks, aircraft and other weapons to European countries, including NATO member Poland, since the war began.

But South Korean President Yoon Sok Yul said that his country's laws that prevent the provision of weapons to the conflicting countries makes the provision of weapons to Ukraine difficult.

Stoltenberg said countries including Germany and Norway, which had similar gun laws to South Korea, had adjusted their policy to support Kyiv.

The Secretary-General of NATO indicated that the Russian army is preparing for a new war effort, pointing out that Moscow receives weapons, especially from North Korea, according to information revealed by the US White House.

For its part, North Korea denied on Sunday supplying weapons to Moscow after Washington accused it of delivering missiles to the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group, which is involved in the war on Ukraine.

Ukraine continues its efforts to obtain more Western weapons, as presidential advisor Mikhail Podolyak said that his country is negotiating with its partners regarding the provision of aircraft and long-range missiles as soon as possible to protect the armored vehicles that were provided to it.

Talks are useless

On the other hand, Sergei Ryabkov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, considered that it was useless to talk with Kyiv after the United States decided to supply Ukraine with tanks, and said that when Washington announced its decision to supply Ukraine with tanks, those he described as its followers began competing over who would supply Kyiv with them and for how much. his expression.

Ryabkov added - in statements to Novosti - that it is useless to talk not only with "Ukrainian Nazis" but also with those he described as puppeteers, as he put it.

This comes after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that President Vladimir Putin is ready to hold contacts with German Chancellor Olaf Schultz.

Peskov said that there are no agreed talks between the two sides, but he made it clear that the president was and still is ready to hold contacts with the German chancellor.

Russia steps up its operations

On the ground, the Ukrainian General Staff said that during the past hours, the Russian forces intensified the bombing of the Kherson and Zaporizhia provinces in the south of the country, and carried out air raids and about 44 missile strikes on several provinces, which caused deaths and injuries among civilians.

Al-Jazeera correspondent quoted the military administration in Kherson as saying that the Russians bombed with artillery shells and Grad missiles the civilian infrastructure, including the general hospital, postal center, school and a number of houses.

In Zaporizhia, the Ukrainian General Staff said that the Russian bombing targeted more than 15 areas.

For his part, the governor of the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, Oleh Sinyhopov, said that an elderly woman was killed and at least 3 other people were injured when a missile hit a residential building in the city of Kharkiv.

He added that the rescue teams are still searching for another missing elderly woman who may be under the rubble caused by the strike, as he said, noting that the attack took place in the downtown area.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian army confirms that it has so far repelled the Russian attacks on Bakhmut, which was inhabited by 70,000 people before the war, and, like other cities in Donetsk, suffered great destruction.

The Ukrainian General Staff also said that its air force carried out a series of raids on the locations of the Russian forces, two radar stations and an ammunition depot.

And Ukrainian military sources acknowledged to Al-Jazeera the difficult situation in the city of Voglidar, which is located southwest of the regional capital of Donetsk Province and is under attack by Wagner's forces, and President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged two days ago the difficult situation in this city.

Moscow seeks to secure the supply lines for its forces in Donetsk by attacking Voglidar, which is located at the intersection of the southern and eastern fronts, while the Ukrainian forces use their positions in the city to launch attacks on the main railway center in Volnovakha, which threatens Russian supply operations between the south and the east.