Leaders of European Union, South Korea agree to increase pressure on Russia, condemn North Korea missile tests

• After the summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations in Hiroshima, Japan, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol met with European Union officials.
• The leaders agreed that the E.U. South Korea need to “maintain increase the collective pressure on Russia, particularly through effective implementation of the respective restrictive measures.”
• The leaders also decided that they needed to call on North Korea to cease actions that have raised military tensions in the region to return to nuclear disarmament talks.

Leaders of South Korea the European Union agreed Monday to increase pressure on Russia over its war against Ukraine condemn North Korea’s ballistic missile tests.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with European Council President Charles Michel European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Seoul after attending the weekend summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations in Hiroshima, Japan.

“We agree to maintain increase the collective pressure on Russia, particularly through effective implementation of the respective restrictive measures,” they said in a joint statement. “We are committed to support Ukraine’s recovery reconstruction remain resolved to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

Michel said Russia’s continued attacks against Ukraine show that deeper cooperation between the EU South Korea is “not a luxury. It’s a vital necessity.”

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The three leaders called on North Korea to cease actions that raise military tensions return to nuclear disarmament talks.

“The European Union will never accept (North Korea’s) possession of nuclear weapons as the normal state of affairs, just like we do not accept Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine,” von der Leyen said at a joint news conference.

Yoon said the three leaders recognized that North Korea’s nuclear missile programs pose a threat beyond the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea has launched about 100 missiles since the start of 2022, many of them nuclear-capable weapons that place the U.S. mainlSouth Korea within striking distance. Experts say North Korea believes its expanded weapons arsenal will help it wrest concessions from its rivals.

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At the G7 summit, the leaders of Japan, the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada Italy as well as the European Union condemned Russia’s invasion reiterated their support for Ukraine. They demanded that North Korea refrain from any destabilizing or escalatory actions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with some of his biggest backers as the G7 summit closed on Sunday, building momentum for his country’s war effort even as Russia claimed a battlefield victory that was quickly disputed by Ukraine. Even before Zelenskyy landed Saturday, the G7 nations had unveiled new sanctions other measures meant to punish Moscow over its invasion that began in February last year.

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Yoon also met with Zelenskyy on the margins of the G7 summit promised to send demining equipment, ambulances other items. South Korea has provided humanitarian other support to Ukraine while joining U.S.-led economic sanctions against Russia, but it hasn’t directly provided arms to Ukraine in line with its longstanding policy of not supplying weapons to countries actively engaged in conflict.