This week, the world watched in anticipation for Russia’s Victory Day parade after President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that he could not guarantee the safety of those attending. Meanwhile, the European Union moves one step forward to banning Russian gas from the European continent. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House.
"(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin... doesn't want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath. Ukraine should agree to this, immediately," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to to Antalya, Turkey, for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting from May 14–16, where he is expected to address the war in Ukraine and push for stronger Allied defense commitments.
The Kremlin said the leaders held a detailed discussion about the Russian initiative and Erdogan expressed full support, reiterating Turkey’s readiness to provide a venue and assist in organizing the negotiations.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
A man walks past a newspaper displayed on a street for the public in Seoul on October 21, 2024, with coverage on North Korea's decision to deploy thousands of soldiers to Ukraine's front lines and a photo (C) of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia's President Vladimir Putin toasting at a banquet in Pyongyang earlier this year. (Anthony Wallace /AFP via Getty Images)
North Korea’s foreign ministry said on Oct. 25 that any decision to send its troops to support Russia in the war in Ukraine would comply with international law, however, it did not confirm whether such a deployment had occurred.
Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong Gyu, in a statement shared by state news agency KCNA, remarked that if North Korea had taken such actions, they would align with international norms despite attempts by others to portray them as illegal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin refrained from denying the reports, which have circulated from sources in Ukraine, South Korea, the United States, and other nations. Kyiv stresses that any North Korean involvement in Russia's war could amount to a crime of aggression under international law.
Kim Jong Gyu noted that the foreign ministry does not oversee military matters, leaving such issues to the defense ministry and, therefore, refraining from specific comments on deployment. "If there is such a thing that the world media is talking about, I think it will be an act conforming with the regulations of international law," he added.
North Korea and Russia have strengthened ties since the war began, including signing a new mutual defense pact. Ukraine and Western governments have previously accused North Korea of providing weapons to Russia—allegations both Pyongyang and Moscow have denied.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, referencing intelligence reports, said that Russia intends to deploy North Korean troops to the battlefield in the coming days. Ukrainian military intelligence reported on Oct. 24 that approximately 12,000 North Korean troops, including 500 officers and three generals, were already in Russia and undergoing training at five military bases.
The United States has also indicated seeing evidence of North Korean troops in Russia, while South Korean lawmakers estimate around 3,000 soldiers have already been sent, with more expected.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
