Russia suffers setbacks as Ukraine braces for tough month on battlefield ---By John T Psaropoulos

Russia suffered political, financial and judicial blows, but Ukraine’s battle on the eastern front remains difficult, too. Russia has suffered multiple diplomatic and judicial blows during the past week over its war on Ukraine, despite President Vladimir Putin’s high-profile visits to North Korea and Vietnam and Moscow’s claims that it is founding a “Eurasian security architecture that will replace the discredited Euro-Atlantic security arrangements”. Putin signed a “comprehensive strategic treaty” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 19, incorporating what he said was a defensive alliance. South Korea’s government condemned the agreement. Its national security adviser, Chang Ho-jin, declared that Seoul would reconsider lifting a ban on arms supplies directly to Ukraine. Until now, South Korea has only sold weapons to Ukraine’s allies. Chang later added that the type of weapons supplied to Ukraine would depend on Russia’s cooperation with North Korea. Putin said it would be a “grave mistake” if South Korea changed its policy of not supplying belligerents. Russia also suffered judicial embarrassments. The International Criminal Court at The Hague issued arrest warrants on Tuesday for former Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Military Staff Valery Gerasimov, saying that they bore responsibility for attacks on Ukrainian electricity infrastructure. The court said, “There are reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged strikes were directed against civilian objects,” and that “the expected incidental civilian harm and damage would have been clearly excessive to the anticipated military advantage.” On the same day, the European Court of Human Rights declared that Russia was in violation of several fundamental human rights in occupied territories. These include abducting people, illegally detaining or torturing them, forcing them to obtain Russian nationality, and numerous other violations. On the diplomatic front, Russia suffered setbacks in the European Union, which on Tuesday officially opened accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova. A day earlier, the EU announced a 14th package of sanctions against Russia. Among other things, these sanctions forbid any EU organisation that is part of the “public opinion forming process”, including political parties, think tanks and media, from accepting Russian money or indirect support. The EU also formally released €1.4bn ($1.5bn) in proceeds from Russian frozen assets to Ukraine. Ninety percent of that money is to be used for military procurements. Russia’s war effort stuck Meanwhile, Russia has been unable to make significant headway on the ground in Ukraine, despite opening a new front in the northern Kharkiv region on May 10, designed to pull Ukrainian soldiers away from the eastern front. That incursion brought its own problems, including prompting the US and Germany to follow Britain and France in allowing Ukraine to use their weapons on Russian soil.

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