Russia transfers S-400 'fire dragon' to Syria, President Assad returns Legion of Honor to France
(Baonghean.vn) - North Korea announced to stop nuclear and missile testing; UK identified the perpetrator of poisoning former spy Sergei Skripal; Russia transferred the "fire dragon" S-400 to Syria after the airstrike by the US and its allies... are prominent international events in the past 24 hours.
North Korea announces suspension of nuclear and missile tests
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| Leader Kim Jong Un and his wife applaud during an event honoring nuclear scientists and engineers who contributed to the successful hydrogen bomb test. Photo: Reuters |
North Korea has said it will close a nuclear test site in the North to demonstrate its commitment to halting nuclear testing, a move that will be seen as a crucial step in the diplomatic process surrounding the Korean peninsula.
North Korea's announcement comes less than a week before an inter-Korean summit at the demilitarized zone between the two countries, and just ahead of a planned meeting between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump that could take place in May or June.
Speaking at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, leader Kim Jong-un said that at this time North Korea "does not need to conduct any more nuclear tests, long-range missiles, or ICBMs", and "the northern nuclear test site has completed its mission".
Immediately after North Korea's announcement, President Donald Trump responded on Twitter: "North Korea has agreed to stop all nuclear testing and close a major nuclear test site. This is great news for North Korea and the world - a big step forward."
Syrian President returns Legion of Honor
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| French Legion of Honor. Photo: Rafu |
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has returned the Legion of Honor that France awarded him in 2001. Explaining his reasons, Assad said he did not want to wear the medal from "a slave of America", after France joined the US and UK in airstrikes on Syria on April 14 in response to Damascus's alleged use of chemical weapons.
The Legion of Honor is the highest honor of the French state, established by Napoleon in 1802 to reward individuals or organizations that have made special contributions to France. Each year, about 3,000 people are awarded this award, including about 400 foreigners. The medal has 5 ranks, of which only 75 are first class.
During his visit to France in 2001, Mr. Assad was awarded the Legion of Honor, first class, by French President Jacques Chirac. However, this move was not made public. It was not revealed until eight years later by the Syrian embassy in France.
France announced on April 16 that it planned to strip Assad of his Legion of Honor medal. However, before Paris could make an official announcement, Assad returned the medal to France.
Identifying the suspect in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal
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| Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Photo: AFP |
The investigation into the assassination of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia appears to have made a major breakthrough, with British police claiming to have identified the suspects behind the poisoning plot. British intelligence believes the suspects are hiding on Russian territory.
The suspect's identity, as well as the intelligence gathered by British police, have not yet been released, but they said one of the clues about the suspect was gathered from the manifest of a flight leaving Britain after the assassination.
Russia transfers S-400 to Syria
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| Russia's S-400 air defense system. Photo: Sputnik |
A Russian An-124 strategic transport aircraft is said to have landed at the Hmeymim military base in the southwestern Syrian province of Latakia. This is a 150-ton aircraft that was used by the Russian Air Force to transport the S-400 air defense system to Syria in late 2015.
Some sources said that the An-124 transport aircraft may have delivered the S-300 air defense system to Syria. However, this information has not been confirmed. The An-124 is rarely deployed to Syria, so the appearance of this aircraft in Latakia has raised many questions in the context of the complicated war situation in the Middle Eastern country.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow sees no reason to prevent the country from providing the S-300 system to Syria after the US, UK and France airstrikes on targets in Syria on April 14. The S-300 is a long-range surface-to-air missile system with a radar range of up to 300 km, capable of launching up to 12 missiles at 6 different targets at the same time.
Democrats sue Trump campaign and Russian government
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| Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez. Photo: Fortune |
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has filed a lawsuit in a Manhattan court against Donald Trump's campaign, the Russian government and Wikileaks. The DNC accuses Russia of hacking into the party's internal email system, which Wikileaks then published with the encouragement of the Trump campaign. The DNC said it suffered millions of dollars in losses and was negatively affected by the incident.
This is a civil complaint, completely independent of the criminal investigation by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, as well as the bipartisan investigative committees conducting investigations into alleged Russian interference in the US election.
The Trump campaign and the Republican Party have not yet commented on the lawsuit. However, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly denied that his campaign had any ties to Russia.