Vladimir Putin’s list of dwindling allies has been said to be at civil war while they watch his disastrous war further unfold. Perhaps in an effort to smooth things over, Putin did hand out so-called “rings of power” to Commonwealth of Independent States leaders, but as far as allies with real firepower goes, Putin’s options are numbered. Yes, I’m greatly oversimplifying international relations here, but Putin isn’t a guy who makes many friends (because he tends to allegedly make “jolly” threats to pulverize them with missiles). He does have Iran on his side, and North Korea seemingly pledged to have his back in the war.
Well, North Korea is starting to pull out of sight, as The Daily Beast relays. Kim Jong-Un is having second thoughts, given that Putin’s bravado isn’t bringing him results. That’s led Pyongyang to backtrack on their previous pledge to “always stand in the same trench” with Russia in war and assist Putin with laborers to help with reassembling “bombed out parts of occupied eastern Ukraine,” an offer that’s no longer on the table:
“This is because they were going to rush the workers over if Russia quickly ended the war and expanded its liberated zones, but the war isn’t going as well as they thought,” a source in North Korea was quoted telling the newspaper. “I think even our country [North Korea] can’t make its people run around a danger zone to earn money, no matter how important the cash is,” the source added, noting that the situation “isn’t good enough now” to invest human capital.
All of this on top of a Russian prosecutor stepped up to tell Putin that his drafts might be highly illegal. Not that this will prompt a change of heart from Putin himself. He’s still falsely claiming to be on a sure path to victory, despite evidence to the country.
(Via The Daily Beast)