Putin thanks North Korean troops for fighting against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region. Russia’s demands for engaging in peace talks with Ukraine run counter to the U.S.-proposed peace plan, a Russian news site observes. Ukraine and the U.S. agree that past American aid provided to Kyiv will not be part of a minerals deal.
Putin thanks North Korean troops for fighting against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region
Russian leader Vladimir Putin thanked North Korean troops for fighting against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region. Putin’s statement came on the heels of North Korea confirming it sent troops to Russia to help in its war against Ukraine.
In a statement published on the Kremlin website on Monday, Putin thanked North Korean troops for helping Russian forces reclaim control of the Kursk region.
Putin said that the Russian people would never forget the feats of North Korea’s special forces. “We will always honor the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia, for our common freedom, on par with their Russian brothers in arms,” he said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un decided to send combat troops to Russia under a mutual defense treaty signed by him and Russian leader Putin in June 2024, the central military commission of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ party said in a statement carried by state media on Monday.
The U.S. state department said it was concerned by North Korea’s direct involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine and that Pyongyang’s military deployment must end. “[North Korea’s] military deployment to Russia and any support provided by the Russian Federation to [North Korea] in return must end,” a state department spokesperson said in an email cited by the Guardian.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Saturday that 62,400 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded fighting in Russia’s Kursk region since August 2024 when Ukraine launched its surprise incursion into the area. North Korea lost more than 4,500 soldiers killed or wounded since they were sent to fight alongside Russia’s troops against Ukraine, it added.
The Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) — a South Korean state-funded think tank — estimated that North Korea has earned approximately 20 billion U.S. dollars through military cooperation with Russia since 2022.
Following a Russian drone and missile strike on Kyiv on April 24 that killed 13 people and injured 87 others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi revealed the attack had been carried out with a North Korean missile. “The missile that killed Kyivites contained at least 116 components imported from other countries, and most of them, unfortunately, were manufactured by American companies,” he said.
North Korean ballistic missiles fired at Ukraine by Russian forces since late December have been far more precise than salvos of the weapons launched over the past year, two senior Ukrainian sources told Reuters in February 2025.
Russia’s demands for engaging in peace talks with Ukraine run counter to U.S.-proposed peace plan
Russia’s demands for engaging in peace talks with Ukraine run counter to the U.S.-proposed peace plan, Russian news site Agentstvo said, breaking down an interview by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov published with the Brazilian outlet O Globo on Monday.
When asked about conditions for peace negotiations with Ukraine, Lavrov said that Moscow insisted on the international recognition of its hold over Crimea, as well as the entirety of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
In addition to territorial claims, Moscow is still pursuing its initial war goals of “demilitarizing” and “denazyfing” Ukraine, he said.
Russia also demands that Ukraine give up its NATO ambitions and accept a neutral, non-aligned status.
It would like to have all sanctions lifted as well as lawsuits and arrest warrants against the state and its officials cancelled. Russia also wants a return of all its frozen assets.
Lavrov also demanded of Ukraine to revoke the laws that he said “physically eliminate” Russian language, media, culture, traditions and church.
Russia will seek guarantees to protect its western borders against NATO, the EU and some member states, Lavrov added.
Moscow demands of Ukraine to revoke a legal ban on negotiating with Russia.
Agentstvo points to the differences between what Russia continues to demand and what the U.S. proposed as part of a peace plan. Trump’s plan includes U.S. recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and unofficial recognition of Russian control of nearly all areas occupied since the 2022 invasion.
The U.S. framework for peace imposes no limits on Ukraine’s army, on the contrary, it states that Kyiv has to keep a strong army of its own.
The U.S. plan does not reject European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, Agentstvo said.
Revocation of some of the laws detailed as part of “denazification” is not on Trump’s plan either.
These are all signs of serious differences in outlook between Moscow and Washington, Agentstvo concluded.
Speaking to CBS a day earlier, Lavrov said that Russia hasn’t received a U.S. proposal to give up control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine, and a change to the facility’s ownership isn’t conceivable. His statement contradicts Trump administration’s plan, Agentstvo said. One of U.S. proposals would see the U.S. take over the plant, to be considered Ukrainian territory, with any electricity generated supplied to both Ukraine and Russia.
On Sunday, Trump questioned Putin’s commitment to ending the war. The U.S. could abandon peace efforts within “days” if there are no signs of progress, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned earlier this month.
Donald Trump will use “both carrots and sticks” to bring Russia to the negotiating table, the U.S. national security adviser, Mike Waltz, told Fox News on Sunday. Potential avenues through which the U.S. could target Moscow include sanctions on banks and actions on the oil and gas sector, he explained.
Ukraine, U.S. agree that past American aid provided to Kyiv will not be part of minerals deal
Past U.S. aid provided to Ukraine will not count toward a minerals deal that the two countries aim to sign, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on Telegram Sunday after holding a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, earlier last week.
“It was agreed that assistance provided prior to the signing of the agreement will not be counted towards it,” Shmyhal said.
“Legal teams are working on the document. We have made good progress,” he said, adding Ukraine had clearly defined its “red lines”.
“The agreement must comply with European commitments and must not contradict Ukraine’s constitution and legislation,” Shmyhal said.
A signing ceremony on an earlier version of the deal was cancelled in February following a meeting in the Oval Office between U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
A previous version of the framework agreement, obtained by The Associated Press, outlined plans for a jointly owned and managed investment fund between the United States and Ukraine, intended to support the reconstruction of Ukraine’s war-torn economy. Under the terms, Ukraine would allocate 50 per cent of future revenues generated from key national assets — including minerals, hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas, and other extractable resources — to the fund.
