NORTH KOREAN WATERPARKS: North Korean dictator Kim Jung-un hosted the Russian ambassador at the opening of a new waterpark aimed at attracting Russian tourists. Photographs showed Kim, with an ashtray and a packet of cigarettes on a table to his side, watching a man demonstrate sliding down a waterslide. (COMMENT:

SPENDING CUTS: Putin signed a plan to cut government spending on civilian projects this year in Russia because of a drop in income linked to soft oil and gas prices. (COMMENT: The "war economy" has been protected, of course. Instead, the Russian government will cut spending on industrial

IRAN: Vladimir Putin met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in the Kremlin on Monday. He condemned the Israeli and US bombing strikes against Iran as "unprovoked and unjustified". (COMMENT: These comments felt pro forma. More importantly, Putin didn't actually offer up any concrete actions to

IRAN BOMBING REACTION: The Kremlin criticised the US bombing raid against Iran as "irresponsible and illegal" but didn't offer Tehran any actual support. (COMMENT: Other than speaking out against US and Israeli bombing runs against Iran, there is not much that Russia can do. There is

ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT: Vladimir Putin held a telephone call with Chinese Pres. Xi Jinping to discuss the Israel-Iran conflict. The Kremlin said the conversion lasted around an hour. Unsurprisingly, Putin and Xi "condemned" Israel's bombing of Iran and called for dialogue. (COMMENT: This may have been the

PUTIN INTERVIEW: Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia is developing "military-technical and military cooperation" with China. He said this in an interview with Western news agencies on the sidelines of the St Petersburg Economic Forum. (COMMENT: Russia doesn't yet have a military alliance with China.

RUSSIA-IRAN: Donald Trump said Russia has not sent any military aid to Iran since the Israel-Iran conflict erupted last week. (COMMENT: This matches Russian reporting which has been consistently pro-Iran but has not suggested that the Kremlin has sent any military aid to Iran – a key Russian ally since its

EVACUATIONS FROM IRAN: The Kremlin continued to evacuate its citizens from Iran through Azerbaijan. On Monday it said that 225 Russians had fled from Iran, including families of Russian diplomats and the touring Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra. This followed a group of 88 Russians who fled Iran on Saturday. Russian media

ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT: The Kremlin has criticised Israel for striking Iran with missiles and drones. Iran has become a key ally for the Kremlin since its invasion of Ukraine. (COMMENT: The issue here is how deep the Kremlin gets dragged into the Israel-Iran conflict.) Vladimir Putin on Friday spoke to both