North Korea is providing its "unconditional support" to Russia in the war against Ukraine. This was declared during a meeting between Kim Jong-Un and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Wonsan on Saturday, according to North Korean state media.
Kim Jong-Un informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the country stands ready to provide strong assistance in the conflict against Ukraine during a meeting that took place on Saturday in the coastal town of Wonsan on North Korea's east coast, a location that the country has recently attempted to market as a tourist destination.
According to the North Korean news agency KCNA, Kim Jong-Un told Lavrov that North Koreans have "expressed full sympathy and support for all the measures taken by the Russian government to remove the root cause of the Ukrainian conflict".
The North Korean leader is also said to have expressed his "firm conviction that the Russian army and people" will triumph and "achieve the sacred cause of defending the country's dignity and fundamental interests", KCNA reports.
Before the meeting with Kim Jong-Un, Lavrov met with his North Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Choe Son-Hui, earlier in the day.
Deepened military cooperation
Lavrov's visit to North Korea marks increasingly extensive military and political ties between the two countries, which have accelerated in connection with the war in Ukraine.
Pyongyang has previously sent thousands of soldiers to the Russian border region of Kursk to participate in fighting against Ukrainian forces that occupied parts of the area.
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Photo: Ulf Kristersson/X, Russian Ministry of Defense
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy together with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during a visit to Saab in Linköping, Sweden, where a letter of intent regarding the export of around a hundred Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine was promised. Simultaneously, Russia conducted a large-scale nuclear weapons exercise, including the launch of a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region.
Russia carried out a large-scale nuclear missile exercise on Wednesday, while Sweden signed a letter of intent to export Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine. The announcement comes one day after the United States announced that a planned summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has been postponed.
The Kremlin released video footage showing Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov reporting to President Putin about the exercises. Russia launched missiles from ground-based platforms, submarines and aircraft, including intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States. However, the missiles did not contain live nuclear warheads.
During critical phases of the Ukraine war, Putin has repeatedly reminded the world of Russia's nuclear capabilities as a warning to Kyiv and its Western allies. NATO also conducted nuclear deterrence exercises in October.
1️⃣ Russia successfully tests 'Yars' intercontinental ballistic missile during strategic nuclear forces training pic.twitter.com/HevLZDB5uu
Sweden announced that the country has signed a letter of intent to export Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine. The announcement comes as European governments intensify their efforts in the Ukraine war, which has now lasted three years and eight months.
Ukrainian pilots have been in Sweden to test the Gripen, a robust and cost-effective alternative to the American F-35.
— We have begun work to acquire Gripen and expect that the future contract will provide us with at least 100 such aircraft, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to Swedish defense company Saab.
Kyiv aims to receive and begin using the aircraft as early as next year.
I am proud to have welcomed President Zelenskyy to Sweden and Linköping.
Today we have signed an important Letter of Intent, marking a step towards a massive possible export deal regarding Gripen - likely between 100 and 150 fighter jets, to build a new and very strong… pic.twitter.com/ObUPKxdxfJ
After months of stalled diplomacy, Putin and Trump spoke last week and unexpectedly announced that they would hold a summit in Hungary within a couple of weeks. But after a phone call between the countries' foreign ministers, the White House announced that Trump has no plans to meet Putin "in the foreseeable future".
Trump explained that he did not want a "wasted meeting" – something the Kremlin said Putin also wants to avoid.
— The dates have not been set yet, but thorough preparation is needed, and that takes time, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The delay came after Russia reiterated to the United States its conditions for peace, including that Ukraine should hand over control of the entire Donbas region, according to three sources to Reuters. This represented a rejection of Trump's statement that both sides should stop at the current front lines.
Shares in European defense companies rose on news of the postponed summit. Most European governments strongly support Kyiv and have pledged to increase their military spending for the war.
Donald Trump has, according to multiple sources, urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to Russia's demands to end the war in Ukraine. A stormy meeting at the White House on Friday was reportedly marked by raised voices, heated arguments, and Trump's repeated echoing of Putin's positions.
During the meeting, Trump allegedly warned Zelensky that Putin had threatened to "destroy Ukraine" if the country does not accept the terms, reports Financial Times.
Sources with insight say the meeting between the parties devolved several times into "shouting matches", where Donald Trump used profanities and threw frontline maps across the room.
Trump reportedly insisted that Zelensky must hand over the entire Donbass region to Moscow, and repeated arguments that Putin had made in a phone call the day before. At the same time, he later supported freezing the current frontlines, reflecting his shifting stance on the issue.
Zelensky and his delegation had hoped to convince Trump to deliver Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, but the US president refused.
If the reports are accurate, the meeting can be compared to the contentious meeting in February, where Trump and Vice President JD Vance criticized Zelensky for lack of gratitude toward the United States.
The meeting between Zelensky and Trump in February earlier this year ended in open quarreling. Facsimile: Fox4
Zelensky's position unchanged
European officials report that Trump repeatedly echoed Putin's arguments word for word on several occasions, even when they contradicted his own previous statements about Russia's weaknesses.
One official said Trump called the conflict a "special operation, not even a war" and warned Zelenskyy that Ukraine risked destruction.
Trump also expressed that Russia's economy "is doing well", which contrasts with his previous public statements that Putin's economy is near collapse.
Zelensky commented to journalists: —Trump wants a quick victory - an end to the war - and that would be a victory for all reasonable people. Putin, however, wants the total occupation of Ukraine.
After the meeting, Zelensky stated that he had made clear to Trump that Ukraine's position remains unchanged. Trump told Fox News on Sunday that he was convinced the conflict could be ended, adding that Putin "going to take something, he’s won certain property".
While peace negotiations between the parties are marked by disagreement and stubbornness, fighting continues with undiminished intensity (archive image June 2025). Photo: screenshot/Youtube/@CNN
Donbass in exchange for other regions
Putin has proposed in talks with Trump that Ukraine hand over all of Donbass in exchange for smaller areas in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. However, Zelenskyy stated that there is still no clarity about exactly what Russia is willing to give up in these regions.
Ukrainian officials warn that giving up the remaining Donbass would give Moscow territory that it only partially controls, since the war began over three years ago.
Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of Ukraine's foreign affairs committee, says: – To give the Donbas to Russia without a fight is unacceptable for Ukrainian society, and Putin knows that. It’s not about getting more territory for Russia; it’s about how to destroy us from within.
Trump's repetition of Putin's rhetoric dampened hopes among many European allies for increased support to Kiev, despite him previously expressing frustration over Putin's unwillingness to negotiate directly with Zelensky.
Zelensky commented after returning home: – We have moved closer to a possible end to the war. That doesn’t mean it will definitely end, but President Trump has achieved a lot in the Middle East, and riding that wave he wants to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
One of Britain's highest-ranking military officers assesses that Ukraine will never be able to defeat Russia on the battlefield and should instead negotiate for peace.
In an interview with The Independent's podcast World of Trouble, Field Marshal Lord David Richards argues that Ukraine simply does not have the capacity to drive Russian forces from its territory and should instead seek a negotiated solution.
Richards, who was promoted to the country's most prestigious five-star military rank earlier this year and led NATO forces during the troop surge in Afghanistan, is critical of how Ukraine's allies have managed their support.
— What we have done in the case of Ukraine is encourage Ukraine to fight, but not given them the means to win, says the former Chief of the Defence Staff.
When Richards is asked to reflect on Ukraine's chances of success against Russia, he is clear.
— My view is that they would not win.
When the interviewer asks whether Ukraine could win even with the right resources, the answer is brief.
— No.
Pressed further on whether the right resources could make a difference, he repeated his answer and added:
— No, they haven't got the manpower.
Not an existential issue for the West
Richards, who is the only British officer to have commanded large American combat forces since 1945, believes the prospects for Ukraine are bleak.
— Unless we were to go in with them – which we won't do because Ukraine is not an existential issue for us. It clearly is for the Russians, by the way.
— We've decided because it's not an existential issue, we will not go to war. We are, you can argue – and I absolutely accept it – in some sort of hybrid war. But that's not the same as a shooting war in which our soldiers are dying in large numbers, Richards continues.
He emphasizes that despite sympathy for the Ukrainians and their achievements, he still believes the war is not in the West's vital national interests.
— My instinct is that the best Ukraine can do, and you already see President Zelensky, who's an inspirational leader … the best they can do is a sort of a score draw.
Zelensky met Trump
The statement comes after Volodymyr Zelensky flew to Washington DC to meet Donald Trump and try to convince him to give Ukraine Tomahawk cruise missiles.
But Zelensky's plans to pressure Trump appear to have been undermined by Vladimir Putin, who spoke with the American president hours before the White House meeting with the Ukrainian leader.
At a packed press conference, Trump appeared hesitant to give away American weapons, while maintaining a friendly tone with Zelensky. The American president emphasized his own country's need to maintain stockpiles.
Zelensky said very little, except to politely suggest that Ukraine could offer its drone technology in an exchange deal. Trump seemed open to the idea.
After the summit, Zelensky said that Trump had not said no to the idea of Tomahawk missiles – but not yes either.
Iraq war built on lies
In the extensive interview about his military life, the field marshal revealed that although his career has been successful, there have been occasions when he came into conflict with the establishment and often disagreed with his military and political superiors.
As a major general and deputy chief of the army under General Sir Mike Jackson, he says it was obvious to him that British Prime Minister Tony Blair's government was lying about its claims that Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear weapons in Iraq.
Tony Blair's government lied about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to legitimize the invasion. Photo: World Economic Forum/CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Together with other senior officers, he questioned the legality of Britain's decision to join American forces in the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Before the British joined the invasion, Blair presented an intelligence document to parliament claiming that the Iraqi dictator was developing nuclear weapons.
"This stinks"
The document, which has since been mocked as "the dodgy dossier" for its unfounded claims, caused dismay among senior officers who had access to the actual intelligence information.
— "I and others encouraged the chief of defence staff to query whether this was legal and what was the basis of this intelligence, says Lord Richards.
— I do remember one officer – who I won't name but was on the intelligence side – saying, 'Don't worry. We'll find something to put'. Yeah, 'don't worry. We'll find something about that. We'll justify what we were doing', he recounts.
— I went back to say to Mike Jackson, 'This stinks'.
Western military support to Ukraine has nearly halved over the summer. Now the US Secretary of Defense is demanding that NATO countries once again open their wallets for more American weapons deliveries – but several major European nations are hesitating.
Pete Hegseth had a clear message when he met with his NATO counterparts in Brussels on Wednesday: Europe must invest even more money in American weapons for Ukraine.
The US Secretary of Defense pointed to a report from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy showing that military support to Kiev fell dramatically during the summer months – a 43 percent decrease compared to the first half of the year.
Hegseth was explicit about his view on how peace is achieved.
— You get peace when you are strong. Not when you use strong words or wag your fingers, you get it when you have strong and real capabilities that adversaries respect, he declared to assembled journalists.
"Firepower, that's what is coming and we expect it is coming from NATO. EU will buy US weapons, transfer to Ukraine to get PEACE!️" — U.S. Secretary of War Hegseth in Brussels at NATO defense ministers security meeting
At the center of discussions is the PURL program – Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List – which has fundamentally changed how the U.S. supports Ukraine militarily. Previously, Washington donated weapons directly, but now NATO countries must pay for the deliveries themselves.
According to Hegseth, the logic is simple: The more Europe buys, the faster the war can be concluded.
— Our expectation today is that more countries donate even more, that they purchase even more to provide for Ukraine, to bring that conflict to a peaceful conclusion, he said.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced that $2 billion has been pledged so far through the PURL system, and that he expects additional contributions. But the figure falls far short of the $3.5 billion that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had hoped to secure by October.
Three countries made new pledges on Wednesday: Sweden, Estonia, and Finland. Corresponding commitments from European heavyweights such as Spain, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom are still lacking.
USA - the big winner?
The Russian government has accused Kiev's European financiers of prolonging the conflict at the expense of Ukrainian lives, and Moscow claims that European countries are unwilling to acknowledge the failure of their strategy.
Meanwhile, European NATO members continue to bear the economic consequences of their sanctions policy against Russia. After rejecting Russian energy, many EU economies have been hit by rising production costs and widespread bankruptcies in industry.
The United States, however, has benefited from developments through increased investment flows and higher sales of liquefied natural gas to Europe.
