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Putin said the West intends to replace Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the first half of 2025, and his successor will depend on his unpopular decision, TASS reported.
The Russian president made the remarks at a press conference in Hanoi during his visit to Vietnam.
“All unpopular decisions will be blamed on him /br-Zelensky/, including lowering the conscription age, and that’s it. And then he will be replaced. I think it will be sometime in the first half of next year,” Putin predicted.
He recalled the 2015 ruling of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine that the president’s powers were valid for five years, which has now expired.
Putin also warned that US ally South Korea would make a “big mistake” if it decided to supply weapons to Ukraine. This was reported by BTA, adding that Moscow would respond to such actions in a way that would be painful for Seoul.
“As for sending lethal weapons to the Ukrainian war zone, that would be a very big mistake,” he said. “I hope that does not happen. But if it does happen, we will take the appropriate decision, which will most likely not satisfy the current South Korean leadership.”
Reuters noted that Putin issued the warning in response to a report earlier in the day by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that Seoul would consider supplying weapons to Kiev following a meeting between the Russian president and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a day earlier.
He noted that South Korea has nothing to worry about as far as the agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang is concerned.
“South Korea has nothing to fear because the military assistance clause in the treaty we have concluded will only be triggered in the event of aggression. Target one of the parties. As far as I know, South Korea has no plans to invade North Korea,” the Russian president told media representatives.
The Russian leader spoke to reporters at the end of a two-day trip to Asia, a day after holding talks in North Korea.
In a statement to reporters in Vietnam, Putin said he did not rule out Russia providing North Korea with high-precision weapons under a mutual defense agreement between the two countries, Interfax reported.
Moscow and Hanoi sign agreement When it comes to energy, it highlights Moscow’s turn toward Asia after the West imposed sanctions on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.
“We are firmly determined to deepen our comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam, which remains one of the priorities of Russia’s foreign policy,” Russian media quoted Putin as saying.
Russia’s state news agency TASS said The two countries have a common interest in “developing a credible security architecture” in the regiona, based on the non-use of force and peaceful settlement of disputes, without the existence of “closed military-political blocs”, in the words of the Russian president.
According to TASS, Putin accused the NATO military alliance of posing a threat to Russia’s security in Asia at a press conference after his visit to Vietnam.
Washington immediately responded to Putin’s threats against Seoul.
According to Reuters, citing BTA, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was “incredible” that Russia could provide weapons to North Korea after signing a defense agreement with Pyongyang.
Asked about Putin’s reference to possible weapons shipments to North Korea, Miller told a news conference: “It’s extremely disturbing.”
“It would certainly be destabilizing on the Korean Peninsula and could … depending on the types of weapons they provide, potentially violate U.N. Security Council resolutions that Russia supports,” a White House spokesman said.
At the same time, he concluded that Russia’s need for such foreign aid was a sign of desperation, referring to the treaty with North Korea, which Putin visited before heading to Vietnam.
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