Displaying items by tag: weapons trade

Kim Jong Un will visit Vladimir Putin in September; the USA is concerned they will discuss North Korea providing Moscow with weapons to use in Ukraine. An arms deal makes transactional sense. Moscow needs ammunition and artillery shells. Pyongyang has plenty of both. Sanction-starved North Korea needs money and food after three years of border closures. Also, the breakdown of talks with the USA has left North Korea more isolated than ever. The US has warned of an arms deal between the two countries for some time: now, a leader-level meeting between Kim and Putin catapults this into the next realm. Russia’s desperate situation means Mr Kim will be able to extract a high price. On 4 September, South Korea's intelligence service briefed that Russia's defence minister has suggested that Russia, China and North Korea hold joint naval drills, like those carried out by the USA, South Korea and Japan, which Kim Jong Un so detests.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), sales of weapons and military services by the world’s 100 biggest arms companies saw a record increase of 1.3% compared with the previous year - the sixth consecutive year of growth even as the global economy shrank. Some governments even accelerated payments to the arms industry in order to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 crisis. The USA dominates the industry with about 54% of all sales. Pray for Godly design and protection over all International treaties and agreements. God is shaking nations with wars and threats of war. We can pray for them to demonstrate God’s righteousness, justice, mercy and truth and to model His principles in relation to other countries. Pray for God’s protection over all international treaties and agreements.