Putin announces new three-day temporary ceasefire for May public holiday

North Korea’s top leader Kim Jong Un has said he sent troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, marking an official confirmation for the first time.

Mr Kim said he decided to send combat troops to Russia under a mutual defence treaty signed by him and Russian president Vladimir Putin in June 2024, the North's Central Military Commission said in a statement carried by state media.

The statement cited Mr Kim as saying the deployment was meant to "annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk area in cooperation with the Russian armed forces."

"They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honor of the motherland," Mr Kim said.

He added that a monument will soon be erected in Pyongyang to mark North Korea's battle feats and that flowers will be laid before the tombstones of the fallen soldiers.

Mr Kim said the government must take steps to preferentially treat and take care of the families of the soldiers who took part in the war.

The US State Department said it was concerned by North Korea's direct involvement in Russia's war in Ukraine and that Pyongyang's military deployment for Russia must end.

"We continue to be concerned by (North Korea's) direct involvement in the war. (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 to Reuters, adding third countries like North Korea "bear responsibility" for the war.

Ukraine has denied Russian president Vladimir Putin’s claim that his forces have regained full control of the border region of Kursk, insisting that fighting is still ongoing.

Here are key moments of the battle for Kursk and its impact:

- Ukrainian forces pushed into Kursk on August 6, 2024, in a surprise attack.

- The incursion was a humiliating blow to the Kremlin — the first time the country’s territory was occupied by an invader since World War II.

- Ukraine said Kyiv’s forces captured nearly 1,300 square kilometres and about 100 settlements in the region that covers 29,900 square kilometres.

- The Kremlin bolstered Russian forces in Kursk in the autumn, and they gradually intensified their effort to drive out the Ukrainians.

- By February, Russia reclaimed about two-thirds of the captured territory, leaving Ukraine with an area around Sudzha, a border town that was Ukraine's main hub in the region.

- Ukraine's military General Staff dismissed Moscow's claim of reclaiming full control of Kursk.

- If confirmed, Russia's victory in Kursk would weaken Kyiv’s hand in peace talks, removing its bargaining chip for exchanging territory it lost earlier in the war.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has denied his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s congratulatory wishes celebrating the recapture of Kursk and said Ukrainian forces remain active in the region.

Ukrainian forces remained active in both Kursk and Belgorod regions, he said on his Telegram channel.

Quoting a report from top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, Mr Zelensky also said Russian forces had mounted nearly 70 attacks on Ukrainian positions yesterday, with conditions remaining "difficult" in many areas.

Most of the battles, Mr Zelensky said, were continuing in three sectors of the eastern front: Pokrovsk, a Russian target for months, as well as Kramatorsk and Lyman.

His comments come shortly after Mr Putin telephoned his top commanders in Kursk to congratulate them on "victory" and the end of the operation to expel Ukrainian forces from the region in western Russia, Russian news agencies quoted the Kremlin as saying yesterday.

The state RIA news agency earlier reported that a Russian military commander told Mr Putin that "the scattered remnants" of the Ukrainian army remaining in Kursk region would soon be destroyed.

Ukrainian officials are said to have been shocked by a US proposal for a ceasefire deal with Russia that included formal recognition of Moscow’s authority over Crimea.

While Kyiv expects to have to concede territory to Russia, at least temporarily, in the terms of any truce, the idea of a legal or formal surrender of Crimea – which Vladimir Putin annexed illegally in 2014 – would be impossible, officials say.

According to experts, it would require a change to the Ukrainian constitution and a nationwide vote, and it could be considered treason. Lawmakers and the public are firmly opposed to the idea.

"It doesn't mean anything," Oleksandr Merezkho, a lawmaker with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's party, told the Associated Press in Kyiv. "We will never recognise Crimea as part of Russia."

Pope Francis would have been “filled with hope” by the meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky that took place ahead of his funeral, according to the most recent ambassador to the Holy See.

The Pope was deeply concerned by Russia’s war on Ukraine — especially the fate of the 19,000 Ukrainian children deported to Russia — Joe Donnelly, appointed as the US representative at the Vatican by Joe Biden, told Politico shortly after the service.

“I think that Pope Francis would have been filled with hope, and would hope that the result that came out of that meeting would be a good one for Ukraine and the world,” Donnelly told Playbook regarding the photo of the two presidents meeting one-on-one shortly before the service on Saturday morning.

Donald Trump is taking a harder line on Vladimir Putin, doubting the Russian leader’s willingness to end his war on Ukraine. The president noted that further sanctions on Russia may be needed.

Trump made the observation in a Truth Social post from aboard Air Force One as he returned to the US, having attended the funeral of Pope Francis at which he held a one-on-one meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican.

The president specifically called out the Russian leader for the continued bombing of civilian areas of Ukraine.

“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days. It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war,” Mr Trump posted on his social media platform.

“He's just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”

Donald Trump has said he believes Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to give up Crimea in order to strike a peace deal with Russia.

On being asked yesterday whether he thought Mr Zelensky was ready to “give up” the illegally annexed territory, Mr Trump said: “Oh, I think so”.

He did not comment on the latest comments from Kyiv rejecting the surrender of Crimea in Ukraine war.

Ukrainian officials are said to have been shocked by a US proposal for a ceasefire deal with Russia that included formal recognition of Moscow’s authority over Crimea.

The US president, before boarding Air Force One last night, said his meeting with the Ukrainian war-time president at Pope Francis’s funeral went well.

“It was a nice meeting. It was a beautiful meeting,” he said.

“The nicest office I’ve ever seen. It’s a beautiful, beautiful scene, but we’re just very he wants to do something good for his country, doing a good job, and he’s working hard. We’ll see what happens,” Mr Trump said.

US president Donald Trump has appreciated Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky as a calmer person who wants to make a deal while the US officials have threatened to walk away from peace process if Russia does not cooperate.

"I see him as calmer. I think he understands the picture, and I think he wants to make a deal," Mr Trump said of Mr Zelensky last night.

After meeting him in the Vatican after Pope’s funeral, Mr Trump rebuked Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying on social media that there is "no reason" for Russia to shoot missiles into civilian areas.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio, meanwhile, said the Trump administration might abandon its attempts to broker a deal if Russia and Ukraine do not make headway.

"It needs to happen soon," Mr Rubio told the NBC program "Meet the Press”.

"We cannot continue to dedicate time and resources to this effort if it's not going to come to fruition."