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Russia on Saturday publicly acknowledged for the first time that North Korean forces are fighting on its side against Ukraine. While reporting to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation in Kursk, southern Russia, General Valery Gerasimov praised North Korean DPRK soldiers for their efforts. Gerasimov said the troops had shown “high professionalism, fortitude, courage and heroism,” fulfilling combat tasks “shoulder to shoulder” with Russian servicemen. Following this admission, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that “Russia will never forget its friends from the DPRK.”

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he doubts Russia’s Vladimir Putin wants to end his war in Ukraine, expressing new skepticism that a peace deal can be reached soon. Only a day earlier, Trump had said Ukraine and Russia were “ very close to a deal.” “There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump said in a social media post as he flew back to the United States after attending Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican, where he met briefly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump...

President Trump on Saturday said he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin may be stringing him along after the latest deadly strikes on Ukraine, as the U.S. seeks to bring an end to the war in Eastern Europe. “There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump posted Saturday on Truth Social. “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!” His...

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed on Saturday what he called the complete failure of an offensive by Ukrainian forces into Russia's Kursk region after they were expelled from the last village Moscow said they had been holding. -snip- Gerasimov also praised the North Korean officers and soldiers' contribution in Kursk, saying they had shown "high professionalism, fortitude, courage and heroism", fulfilling combat tasks "shoulder to shoulder" with Russian servicemen. North Korea sent an estimated total of 14,000 troops, including 3,000 reinforcements to replace its losses, Ukrainian officials said. Lacking armoured vehicles and drone warfare experience, they took heavy casualties but...

-snip- "Vladimir, STOP! Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Thursday. He said in a post Friday that after a "good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine" they "are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to 'finish it off.'" "Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW," Trump added. Driving the news: Putin's advisers Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev also attended the meeting. Ushakov said in a briefing with reporters that the meeting was "constructive and...

Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine are "very close to a deal" with "most of the major points agreed" - as he called for the two sides to meet. Shortly after arriving in Rome for Pope Francis's funeral, the US president said high-level officials should now meet to "finish [the deal] off". "A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine," Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to 'finish it off'. "Most of the major points are...

The radicalized son of a CIA director was killed last year while allegedly fighting for Russia in Ukraine, according to a new investigation. Michael Alexander Gloss, the 21-year-old son of the CIA’s Deputy Director for Digital Innovation Julianne Gallina Gloss and a Navy veteran father, was killed on the front lines after enlisting in the Russian army, according to a lengthy investigation by independent Russian outlet Important Stories. Gloss’ obituary said his “fiercely beautiful life … was taken from us during his travels overseas” on April 4, 2024, without detailing exactly how “With his noble heart and warrior spirit Michael...

A Russian satellite believed to be part of Moscow’s nuclear anti-satellite weapon program appears to be malfunctioning, with erratic movements suggesting it may no longer be operational. The development could be a major blow to Russia’s military space ambitions, US analysts said. Cosmos 2553 was launched just weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Over the past year, it has shown signs of uncontrolled tumbling, according to radar data from LeoLabs and optical tracking shared by Slingshot Aerospace with Reuters. The satellite is believed to serve as both a radar tool for intelligence gathering and a platform for radiation testing....

United States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff left the Kremlin on Friday afternoon after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a RIA Novosti correspondent. Witkoff's motorcade was seen exiting the Kremlin around 5:19 pm local time, suggesting the meeting lasted under three hours, shorter than the four-and-a-half-hour discussion held during their previous encounter two weeks ago.

“I think it was terrible and I was told they made a mistake, but I think it’s a horrible thing,” Trump told reporters on-board Air Force One on Sunday evening. “I think the whole war’s a horrible thing.”Moscow’s recent missile strikes in Ukraine that killed dozens of civilians show Russian President Vladimir Putin is “mocking” President Donald Trump, Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has said. WHY IT MATTERS Ukrainian authorities said that Russia launched two ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian city of Sumy as residents attended church services marking Palm Sunday. Ukraine’s state emergency service said late Sunday that 34...

Vladimir Putin has said that normal diplomatic ties have been restored between Russia and the United States. "The constant expulsion of diplomats from Washington and Moscow does not lead to anything good," Putin said according to RIA Novosti, Russian state-owned media. Putin expressed interest in meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump but stressed that any such talks must be carefully planned to ensure a productive outcome.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump could meet this month, although the first face-to-face encounter between a Russian and a US leader since 2021 could take longer to prepare, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. -snip- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the meeting in Riyadh was focused mostly on Russian-US bilateral ties but that it was also a “very, very important step” toward reaching a settlement on the Ukraine war, nearing the end of its third year. “But this is the first step… Naturally, it’s impossible to fix everything in one day or a week. There is...

U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia said Wednesday the United States understands the need for security guarantees for Ukraine, as he visited the country for talks with Ukrainian officials. Gen. Keith Kellogg told reporters in Kyiv that he was in Ukraine “to listen,” hear the concerns of Ukrainian leaders and return to the United States to consult President Trump. Kellogg said the United States wants the war in Ukraine to end, saying that would be good for the region and the world. The talks come amid a flurry of diplomatic efforts focused on Russia’s war in Ukraine,...

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the United States is working toward a "fair" and "sustainable" solution to end Russia’s three-year war on Ukraine, but that both Moscow and Kyiv would have to make concessions to achieve peace. -snip- Rubio said he was "convinced" that Moscow was willing to engage in a "serious process" to end the war, which Russia started with a full-scale invasion of its neighbor three years ago next week. Lavrov had a similar upbeat view of the talks, saying, “We weren’t just listening to each other, but we heard each other. I have...

China could send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine to help preserve any negotiated ceasefire in its war with Russia - as long as they are working with non-Nato countries like India - a former PLA colonel suggested. Zhou Bo, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, said that China had "sufficient troops and military strength" to contribute to an international post-war effort. "However, if peacekeeping operations are conducted along with European countries, Russia might see it as another form of Nato presence, wouldn't they?" Zhou said in an interview on the sidelines of last...

Ukraine launched an overnight drone attack on Russia, setting ablaze an oil refinery, Russian media reported on the Telegram messaging app. Videos posted by locals seem to show a large fire at the Ilsky refinery, located in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, east of the Crimean Peninsula. Residents also reported hearing explosions around 1:30 a.m. local time. According to Russia’s SHOT Telegram news channel, the fire was stoked by falling drone wreckage. Russian Governor Veniamin Kondratyev earlier on Monday said that Ukraine’s drone attack on Russia’s Krasnodar region injured one person and damaged at least 12 houses. The local official, writing on...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff are planning to head to Saudi Arabia to initiate negotiations toward peace between Russia and Ukraine, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. Witkoff told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" that he is traveling to Saudi Arabia with Waltz on Sunday night. -snip- Two U.S. officials confirmed that Ukraine was not invited to the talks in Saudi Arabia, but say the intention is for the U.S. to host a bilaterial with Russia, then a bilateral with Ukraine and then...

Zelenskyy spoke with NBC News in an hour-long interview that covered a range of topics on the war, his thoughts on President Donald Trump's role in ending the conflict, and more. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sat down with "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker to discuss potential talks to end Russia's war against Ukraine, his conversations with President Donald Trump, the future of NATO, and more.

European countries will not create one unified army in response to threats from Russia, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in an interview with state TV broadcast late on Saturday. -snip- "If you understand by it the unification of national armies, it will not happen," he said. "But I have been an advocate for Europe, for the European Union, to develop its own defence capabilities." -snip- He reiterated that having Polish troops on the ground in Ukraine was "not a consideration, because Poland's duty to NATO is to protect the eastern flank, i.e. its own territory".

-snip- “Putin's aims are extraordinarily ambitious, way beyond the capacity of his country, which he is ruining,” he added. Sikorski called the full-scale invasion a “civilizational struggle.” “We [Europe] represent the world of rules, of peace, of prosperity. And Putin has gone back to the world of Genghis Khan.”