2023

(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin, facing an election in March, made only passing reference in his New Year address on Sunday to his war in Ukraine, hailing his soldiers as heroes but mostly emphasising unity and shared determination.

The pre-recorded address, being aired just before midnight in each of Russia’s 11 time zones, was in sharp contrast to last year, when he stood behind grim-looking soldiers to make a stern call for sacrifice in what he cast as a fight for survival.

“To everyone who is at a combat post, at the forefront of the fight for truth and justice: You are our heroes, our hearts are with you. We are proud of you, we admire your courage,” Putin said, this time with the more traditional backdrop of the Kremlin walls.

Ukraine was not mentioned by name, nor the “special military operation”, Putin’s term for the war he unleashed in February 2022 by sending Russia’s armed forces into Ukraine.

With all significant opposition forces suppressed, along with any expressions of political dissent, the 71-year-old is certain to win the election and extend his 24 years in power.

Yet in the last few months, with the war largely deadlocked, he has toned down his previously strident, nationalistic messaging on Ukraine and given more public attention to the economy and inflation – issues likely to be closer to the hearts of voters.

“We have proven more than once that we can solve the most difficult problems and will never retreat, because there is no force that can divide us,” he said.

There was no mention in his speech of the hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers estimated to have been killed or wounded, or the repeated spilling over of the conflict onto home territory, seen dramatically in Saturday’s Ukrainian attack on the city of Belgorod, 34 km (21 miles) from the border.

The armed mutiny in June by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner mercenary group, was also notably absent from Putin’s speech.

Instead, Putin portrayed Russia and its people as united, supportive and “firm in defending national interests, our freedom and security, our values”.

“Working for the common good has united society,” he said. “We are united in our thoughts, in work and in battle, on weekdays and holidays, showing the most important traits of the Russian people – solidarity, mercy, fortitude.”

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican marked the first anniversary on Sunday of the death of Pope Benedict XVI, with one of his closest aides saying he never would have approved a recent declaration allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples.

Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, who was the Church’s doctrinal chief under Benedict, and Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, who was Benedict’s private secretary, both German, were two headliners at an event marking the anniversary and organised by the conservative U.S.-based Catholic television network EWTN.

“It never would have happened (under Benedict) because it was so ambiguous,” Mueller said on the sidelines of the event when asked by Reuters about the landmark declaration issued on Dec. 18.

While the December declaration says such blessings cannot resemble the sacrament of matrimony between a man and a woman and cannot be part of rituals or liturgies, some advocates of more inclusion of LGBT people saw it as a possible precursor of same-sex marriage in the Church.

“There is no homosexual matrimony. It does not exist, it cannot exist, despite ideologies we have (today),” said Mueller, whom Francis removed as head of the Vatican’s doctrinal department after Benedict resigned in 2013.

Francis briefly noted the anniversary in his Sunday blessing to crowds in St. Peter’s Square, saying Benedict had “served the Church with love and wisdom” and that he “We feel so much affection, so much gratitude, so much admiration for him”.

Francis then asked the crowd for a round of applause for Benedict, who was the first pope in 700 years to step down instead of rule for life.

Mueller said that while his personal relationship with Francis is “very good” he does not hesitate to disagree with him in public on doctrinal issues because “we are not in the Soviet Union where only one leader has a say”.

Mueller said “the best thing we can do for the pope is always to be close to the Catholic truth and faith and not to be here as adulators”.

Earlier in St. Peter’s Basilica, Gaenswein, Benedict’s secretary, said a memorial Mass for Benedict. Gaenswein’s voice broke twice with emotion while reading his homily.

Benedict’s shock resignation divided the Church, with many saying he should not have stepped down.

His 10 years living in the Vatican as “pope emeritus” widened the conservative-progressive divide, with some diehard traditionalists not recognising Francis as leader.

“I think many polemics will be forgotten,” Gaenswein said on the sidelines of the television event. “What remains is the substance, and (as for) the substance of his papacy, history will judge”.

Gaenswein, who Francis dispatched back to Germany after Benedict died, said that when Benedict decided to resign, the former pope was convinced he had at most a year left to live.

“I pray he will be a saint. I wish he will be a saint. And I am convinced he will be a saint,” he said.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; editing by Jason Neely)

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By Cynthia Kim, Josh Smith and Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea vowed to launch three new spy satellites, build military drones, and boost its nuclear arsenal in 2024 as leader Kim Jong Un said U.S. policy is making war inevitable, state media reported on Sunday.

Kim lashed out at Washington in lengthy remarks wrapping up five days of ruling party meetings that set economic, military and foreign policy goals for the coming year.

“Because of reckless moves by the enemies to invade us, it is a fait accompli that a war can break out at any time on the Korean peninsula,” he said, according to state news agency KCNA.

He ordered the military to prepare to “pacify the entire territory of South Korea,” including with nuclear bombs if necessary, in response to any attack.

Kim’s speech comes ahead of a year that will see pivotal elections in both South Korea and the United States.

Experts predict North Korea will maintain a campaign of military pressure to try to increase any leverage around the U.S. presidential elections in November, which could see the return of former President Donald Trump, who traded in both threats and historic diplomacy with Kim.

“Pyongyang might be waiting out the U.S. presidential election to see what its provocations can buy it with the next administration,” said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden says it is open to talks, but it imposed new sanctions as North Korea pushed ahead with more banned missile tests. The U.S. also increased drills and deployed more military assets such as nuclear-armed submarines and large aircraft carriers near the Korean peninsula.

Kim said he could not overlook the return of such weapons which he said had completely transformed South Korea into a “forward military base and nuclear arsenal” of the United States.

“If we look closely at the confrontational military actions by the enemy forces …. the word ‘war’ has become a realistic reality and not an abstract concept,” Kim said.

Kim said he has no choice but to press forward with his nuclear ambitions and forge deeper relations with other countries that oppose the United States. North Korea has deep ties with both China and Russia.

South Koreans will also go to the polls in April for a parliamentary election that could impact the domestic and foreign agenda for conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has maintained a hawkish stance toward Pyongyang.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) warned on Thursday that “there is a high possibility that North Korea could unexpectedly conduct military provocations or stage a cyberattack in 2024, when fluid political situations are expected with the elections.”

Pyongyang has now ruled out the possibility of unifying with South Korea, and the country must fundamentally change its principle and direction toward South Korea, Kim said.

“North-South relations are no longer a kinship or homogeneous relationship but have completely become a relationship between two hostile countries, two belligerents at war,” he said, calling the South a colonized state completely dependent on the United States for national defense and security.

Kim also promised to nurture the economy including metals, chemicals, power, machinery and railway transportations while modernizing wheat facilities to boost production.

One key policy goal is to invest in science and technological research at schools, he said.

MILITARY TECHNOLOGY

In the past year, North Korea says it successfully launched its first military spy satellite and test fired new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) seen as having the range to deliver a nuclear warhead to anywhere in the United States.

A new reactor at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear complex appears to be operating for the first time, the U.N. nuclear watchdog and independent experts said this month, which would mean an additional potential source of plutonium for nuclear weapons.

North Korea has not tested a nuclear weapon since 2017 but in recent years has taken steps to resume operations at its testing site.

Kim said 2024 would see further military development, including strengthening the nuclear and missile forces, building unmanned drones, expanding the submarine fleet and developing electronic warfare capabilities.

The fleet of spy satellites would represent the first such capability for the North.

That successful launch was preceded by two failed attempts last year when its new Chollima-1 rocket crashed into the sea.

The move raised regional tensions and sparked fresh sanctions from the U.S., Australia, Japan and South Korea. Pyongyang has yet to release any imagery from the new satellite, leaving analysts and foreign governments to debate its capabilities.

The apparent success also came after Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to help North Korea build satellites. South Korean officials said Russian aid likely made a difference in the success of the mission, though experts said it was unclear how much help Moscow could have provided.

(Reporting by Cynthia Kim, Josh Smith and Jack Kim; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Lisa Shumaker)

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