Ukraine-Russia war latest: North Korea troops arrive in Russia as Zelensky says Nato invite only way to end war
On the frontline, Ukraine’s air defences shoot down 80 out of 135 Russian drones
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Volodymyr Zelensky insisted that Nato membership is the only way to end Russia’s war as South Korea’s spy agency warned that North Korea has sent a battalion of troops to bolster the Russian army in Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky urged EU and Nato leaders in Brussels to formally invite Ukraine to join the military alliance as part of his five-point “victory plan”.
“We cannot be very strong without having an invitation [which] strengthens our diplomatic ways to end the war,” he told the Financial Times. “This war will finish when Putin will be isolated, and pushed by other partners to diplomacy.”
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a statement that Russian navy ships had transferred 1,500 North Korean special operation forces to the Russian port city of Vladivostok earlier this month.
On the frontline, Ukraine’s air defences shot down 80 out of 135 drones launched in a mass attack by Vladimir Putin’s forces, Kyiv said. The air force said it lost track of 44 drones that likely fell into Ukrainian territory following active electronic warfare measures, while two drones went to Belarus, while Nato member Romania scrambled fighter jets after an unidentified object breached its airspace near the Black Sea.
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Watch: Trump blames Zelensky for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Everything we know about North Korean troops joining Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The US and its allies have raised the alarm after Volodymyr Zelensky and South Korea claimed that North Korea was sending thousands of soldiers to help Russia in its war in Ukraine.
My colleague Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports:
Everything we know about North Korean troops joining Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky claims North Korea is preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russian military, calling it the ‘first step to a world war’
Zelensky expecting White House feedback on ‘victory plan'
Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he expects a White House team to visit Ukraine soon with feedback on the “victory plan” he has presented to Western leaders.
He told Ukrainian media that he agreed with Joe Biden that Ukraine would be receiving assistance packages quickly, likely every two to three weeks in the months ahead.
Ukraine should lift ban on talks with Russia, Putin claims
Ukraine should lift its ban on talks with Russia, Vladimir Putin has said, as he remarked on possible Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Saudi Arabia.
Russia is ready for dialogue with Ukraine but on the basis of what has already been agreed, the Russian president claimed.
Volodymyr Zelensky has said that calls for dialogue with Russia play into Mr Putin’s hands.
Putin says unclear when Ukraine war will end
Vladimir Putin has said it is unclear when Russia will prevail against Ukraine in the war, but that Moscow’s forces were prepared to keep fighting until they clinched victory.
The Russian president said that Russian troops were getting more technologically advanced in what he cast as a war between Moscow and Nato that the alliance was waging using Ukrainian troops.
Putin says he wants ‘lasting peace’ in Ukraine as he praises China-Brazil proposal
Vladimir Putin has claimed that Moscow needs to secure conditions for a lasting peace in Ukraine, which he said would help ensure Moscow's long-term security interests.
The Russian president praised a joint proposal by China and Brazil for ending the war in Ukraine as “balanced” and said it would provided a good basis for finding a solution.
The Chinese-Brazilian proposal, made public in May, calls for de-escalating the situation and resuming direct dialogue without requiring Russia to pull back its forces from Ukrainian territory.
Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed the initiative as serving Moscow's interests.
Russia returns bodies of 501 soldiers, Ukraine says
Russia has returned the bodies of 501 soldiers, Ukrainian authorities said, in what appeared to be the biggest repatriation of war dead since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Most of the soldiers were killed in action in the eastern Donetsk region, mostly around the city of Avdiivka which was captured by Russian forces in February after a long and grinding battle, Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said.
Law enforcement agencies and forensic experts will identify the victims, who will then be handed to family members for burial, it said.
Putin claims Brazil could sign agreement to bypass ICC arrest warrant
Russia could sign a bilateral agreement with Brazil to bypass the Internationl Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for him if necessary ahead of the upcoming G20 summit, Vladimir Putin has claimed.
“Decisions of this kind are very easy to circumvent, it is enough to sign an intergovernmental agreement and that’s it - the jurisdiction of the ICC will be limited,” Mr Putin said.
Russia, which is not a signatory to the ICC, strongly denies the allegations of war crimes made against it by the court, Ukraine and its Western allies.
Putin says his presence at G20 summit would cause a disruption
Vladimir Putin has said that his possible attendance at next month’s G20 summit in Brazil would disrupt the important work there, adding that another official would represent Moscow.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued a warrant for Mr Putin’s arrest over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, and Kyiv has urged Brazil to arrest him if he travels to the summit.
“I have wonderful friendly relations with President Lula but why would I go there on purpose to disrupt the normal work of this forum,” Mr Putin told reporters.
Zelensky says no reason to lower draft age from 25
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelesnky has said that Ukraine’s allies are pushing for the country to lower its military draft age – but that he saw no reason to do so.
Under current laws, only men aged between 25 and 60 can be mobilised into Ukraine’s military.
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