North Korea admits sending troops to Russia
NORTH KOREA: NORTH KOREA confirmed for the first time that it has sent troops to fight for Russia in the war with Ukraine.
In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the role of North Korean troops in driving Ukrainian forces out of Russia’s Kursk region.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed the importance of the coming week for reaching an agreement with Russia and Ukraine to halt the fighting.
US President Donald Trump, for his part, said he thought Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy was ready to give up Crimea, a territory that Russia occupied in 2014.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said his troops are still fighting in Kursk, despite Moscow claiming that it regained control of the entire region.
Russia says it is ‘ready’ to talk to Ukraine without preconditions
The Kremlin said it was ready to begin peace talks with Ukraine without preconditions, state media reported.
“The Russian side has repeatedly confirmed its readiness, as confirmed by the president, to start negotiations with Ukraine without any preconditions,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, adding that the signal should come “from Kyiv.”
Separately, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia is still open to talks on Ukraine, but “the ball is not in our court.”
“We are open to negotiations. But the ball is not in our court. So far, Kyiv has not demonstrated its ability to negotiate,” Lavrov said in an interview with Brazilian newspaper O Globo, cited by Russian Foreign Ministry.
Lavrov said that Ukraine hadn’t respected the energy infrastructure ceasefire and the Easter truce.
He also reiterated previous Russian demands for Ukraine’s neutral status and non-accession to NATO, and called international recognition of the annexed Ukrainian regions as part of Russia “imperative.”
Earlier, US President Donald Trump questioned Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s willingness to halt the three – year offensive
