Closing summary
The US has claimed that North Korea delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia for the war in Ukraine.
Fighting on the eastern frontline, in Avdiivka, entered a fourth day as Russia seeks to regain the initiative in its biggest offensive in months. Ukraine’s top military command said that it had repelled more than 20 attacks over the past day around the town, while there were claims Ukrainian reservists were being sent in to shore up defences after initial Russian breakthroughs.
Vladimir Putin dismissed the idea that Russia damaged a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia and suggested such claims were made up to divert attention from what he said was a western attack on Nord Stream.
EU leaders meeting later in October will demand “decisive progress” on using Russian assets frozen by sanctions to help Ukraine, according to their draft statement.
Former Olympic champions Yelena Isinbayeva and Shamil Tarpischev – Russia‘s two International Olympic Committee members – have no contractual links to the country’s military and have not supported the invasion of Ukraine, the IOC president, Thomas Bach, said.
No final communique is expected to be released at the end of the International Monetary Fund’s meetings in Marrakech because of a disagreement on how to refer to Russia’s war in Ukraine, a European official said on Friday.
Updated
The White House has said that between 7 September and 1 October, a Russian-flagged ship transported cargo from a North Korean ammunition depot to a Russian port. From there, the cargo was allegedly carried to a Russian military warehouse, the BBC reports.
“We condemn [North Korea’s] supply of this military equipment to Russia,” the US national security adviser, Paul Kirby, told reporters. “We will continue to monitor any new arms supplies to Russia.”
Updated
