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world news Diahuebs 13 Januari 2022

US hits NKorean officials with sanctions after missile test

(AP) — The Biden admin- personic missile on Tuesday official name: the Demo-
istration on Wednesday that he claimed would greatly cratic People’s Republic of
slapped sanctions on five increase the country’s nucle- Korea.
North Korean officials in ar “war deterrent.”
its first response to Pyong- The sanctions freeze any as-
yang’s latest ballistic mis- One of the five North Ko- sets that the targets have
sile test. reans targeted by Treasury in U.S. jurisdictions, bar
is based in Russia, while the Americans from doing busi-
The Treasury Department other four are based in China. ness with them and subject
announced it was impos- All are accused of providing foreign companies and indi-
ing penalties on the officials money, goods or services to viduals to potential penalties
over their roles in obtaining North Korea’s Second Acad- for transactions with them.
equipment and technology emy of Natural Sciences,
for the North’s missile pro- which Treasury says is heav- Shortly before the announce-
grams. In addition, the State ily involved in the country’s ment, North Korea’s state
Department ordered sanc- military defense programs. news agency reported that
tions against another North “The DPRK’s latest missile the latest missile launch in- cy showed a missile mounted ported hypersonic missile in
Korean, a Russian man and launches are further evidence volved a hypersonic glide ve- with a pointed cone-shaped a week, a type of weaponry
a Russian company for their that it continues to advance hicle, which after its release payload soaring into the sky it first tested in September,
broader support of North prohibited programs despite from the rocket booster dem- while leaving a trail of orange as Kim Jong Un continues
Korea’s weapons of mass de- the international commu- onstrated “glide jump flight” flames, with Kim watching a defiant push to expand his
struction activities. nity’s calls for diplomacy and and “corkscrew maneuver- from a small cabin with top nuclear weapons capabilities
denuclearization,” said Trea- ing” before hitting a sea target officials, including his sister in the face of international
The moves came just hours sury’s chief of terrorism and 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) Kim Yo Jong. sanctions, pandemic-related
after North Korea said its financial intelligence, Brian away. difficulties and deadlocked
leader Kim Jong Un oversaw Nelson. He referred to the The launch was North Ko- diplomacy with the United
a successful flight test of a hy- North by the acronym of its Photos released by the agen- rea’s second test of its pur- States.

No Ukraine breakthrough, but NATO and Russia eye more talks

(AP) — The United States equipment from countries has caused deep concerns in ratist insurgency in Ukraine’s ring Russia were doomed to
and NATO rejected key that border Russia, which Kyiv and the West that Mos- eastern industrial heartland fail.
Russian security demands include Ukraine but also cow is preparing for an inva- in 2014. In the years since,
for easing tensions over NATO allies like Estonia, sion. the fighting has killed more “If NATO opts for the policy
Ukraine but left open Latvia and Lithuania. Putin than 14,000 people. of deterrence, we will re-
Wednesday the possibility also asked for the 30-nation Russia denies that it has fresh spond with a policy of coun-
of future talks with Mos- military alliance to agree not plans to attack its neighbor “There are significant differ- ter-deterrence,” Grushko
cow on arms control, mis- to admit any more members. and in turn accuses the West ences between NATO allies said. “If it turns to intimida-
sile deployments and ways of threatening its security by and Russia on this issue” of tion, we will respond with
to prevent military inci- Speaking after the meeting positioning military person- Ukraine’s potential NATO counter-intimidation. If it
dents between Russia and at NATO headquarters in nel and equipment in Central membership, Stoltenberg looks for vulnerabilities in
the West. Brussels, U.S. Deputy Secre- and Eastern Europe. told reporters after what he Russia’s defense system, we
tary of State Wendy Sherman said was “a very serious and will look for NATO’s vulner-
The decisions came at a reaffirmed that some of Pu- While noting that “escalation direct exchange” with Rus- abilities. It’s not our choice,
meeting of the NATO-Rus- tin’s security demands “are does not create optimum sian Deputy Foreign Minis- but we don’t have other op-
sia Council, the first of its simply non-starters.” conditions for diplomacy, to ter Alexander Grushko and tions if we don’t overturn
kind in over two years. That say the least,” Sherman also Deputy Defense Minister Al- this current very dangerous
Russia’s delegation did not “We will not slam the door expressed optimism follow- exander Fomin. course of events.”
walk out of the talks and re- shut on NATO’s open-door ing the Brussels meeting giv-
mained open to the prospect policy,” she told reporters af- en that Moscow did not dis- Stoltenberg underlined that The NATO-Russia Coun-
of future discussions after ter almost four hours of talks. miss the idea of further talks. Ukraine has the right to de- cil was set up two decades
having its main positions re- “We are not going to agree cide its future security ar- ago, but full meetings paused
buffed were seen as positive that NATO cannot expand NATO Secretary Gen- rangements and that NATO when Russia annexed the
notes in a week of high-level any further.” eral Jens Stoltenberg, who would continue to leave its Crimean Peninsula nearly
meetings aimed at staving off chaired the meeting, said door open to new members. eight years ago. It has met
a feared Russian invasion of The meeting was called as an NATO nations and Russian only sporadically since.
Ukraine. estimated 100,000 combat- envoys both “expressed the “No one else has anything
ready Russian troops, tanks need to resume dialogue and to say, and of course, Russia Moscow’s draft agreement
Russian President Vladimir and heavy military equipment to explore a schedule of fu- does not have a veto,” he said. with NATO countries and
Putin wants NATO to with- are massed near Ukraine’s ture meetings.” the offer of a treaty between
draw its troops and military eastern border. The buildup Grushko, who described Russia and the United States
Stoltenberg said NATO is Wednesday’s talks as “serious, would require NATO to halt
keen to discuss ways to pre- deep and substantive,” coun- all membership plans, not
vent dangerous military inci- tered by saying that “the free- just with Ukraine, and scale
dents or accidents involving dom to choose ways of en- down its presence in coun-
Russia and the Western al- suring one’s security mustn’t tries close to Russia’s borders.
lies, reducing space and cyber be implemented in a way that
threats, as well as setting lim- infringes on legitimate secu- Endorsing such an agree-
its on missile deployments rity interests of others.” ment would mean NATO
and other arms control initia- abandoning a key tenet of its
tives. He did not rule out more founding treaty, which holds
discussions with the Western the alliance can invite in any
But Stoltenberg said any allies but scoffed at NATO’s willing European country
talks about Ukraine wouldn’t assurances that it doesn’t that can contribute to secu-
be easy. Russia annexed the threaten Russia and warned rity in the North Atlantic area
Crimean Peninsula from that the alliance’s attempts to and fulfill the obligations of
Ukraine and backed a sepa- ensure its security by deter- membership.