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What Pyongyang's July 2023 parade guests revealed
Summary
A look back at the Pyongyang anniversary gathering attended by Russian and Chinese delegations, and at US sanctions over Wagner in Mali.
What did it signal when Russia's defence minister stood beside North Korea's leader at a missile exhibition? On 28 July 2023, the question was already in the air, a day after the events in Pyongyang.
On 27 July 2023, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and a Chinese delegation met in Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the cessation of hostilities in the Korean War. Kim and Shoigu also attended an exhibition of North Korean ballistic missiles. Those missiles have been prohibited by multiple United Nations resolutions that both China and Russia endorsed.
Sanctions over Wagner in Mali
A few days earlier, on 24 July 2023, the United States announced sanctions on three senior Malian officials. They included Defence Minister Sadio Camara. Washington said they had allegedly helped to facilitate the presence of the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group in the country.
The two developments were separate, but both involved Russian military links with partners abroad in the final week of July 2023.
