Ukraine war latest: Putin claims Soviets decided WW2 in dig at Trump

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare visit to Russia’s embassy in Pyongyang with his daughter on Friday and reaffirmed “the invincible alliance” between the two countries, while Russia’s leader greeted North Korean generals in Moscow.

Congratulating Russia on the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, Kim said North Korea would “consolidate and develop the long tradition of the DPRK-Russia relations, the noble ideological foundation and the invincible alliance”, state-run KCNA reported.

Kim has taken his young daughter to a variety of events recently, part of what South Korean intelligence views as plans for her to succeed her father.

North Korea’s unprecedented deployment of thousands of troops, as well as huge amounts of artillery ammunition and missiles, has helped Russia push back a Ukrainian incursion into its western Kursk region. It has also brought North Korea and Russia – both economically and politically isolated – closer.

Vladimir Putin claimed the Soviet Union “determined the outcome of the Second World War” as he inspected Russian troops at a Victory Day parade in Moscow.

Mr Putin vowed Russia would “never agree to any distortion of its events, nor to attempts to justify executioners and defame the true victors” during a speech at Moscow’s Red Square on Friday morning.

It came just days after US president Donald Trump said “nobody came close” to America in “terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance” during the conflict.

“We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance,” the president said.

The Kremlin says the attendance of Russian allies such as Xi, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and several dozen leaders from the former Soviet Union, Africa, Asia and Latin America shows Russia is not isolated even if Moscow’s former WW2 Western allies want to stay away.

Chinese troops took part in the parade, and Putin shook hands with North Korean officers, praising them for their fighting skill.

North Korean troops have helped Russia fight an incursion into its western Kursk region by Ukrainian forces seeking a bargaining chip in any peace talks.

US vice president JD Vance has said the US will be ready to “walk away” from the negotiating table if it does not see Russia making progress in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

“We knew that Russia would ask for too much because Russia’s perspective on the ground is that they’re winning,” Mr Vance said, claiming that Ukraine wants a ceasefire because “things are not going so well for them”.

“Our attitude is we don’t want Ukraine to collapse. We obviously want Ukraine to remain a sovereign country. But Russia can’t expect to be given territory they haven’t even conquered yet,” he said.

“I actually think that it’s progress that they’re even talking at all – the Russians and Ukrainians. I think it’s progress that they are putting concrete peace plans on the table. But we knew that the Russians’ first offer would be too much. We knew that they would ask for more than what was reasonable to give, that’s how negotiations often work,” the US vice president said, adding that he is not bothered by these issues.

“What would bother me is if we conclude that the Russians are not engaging in negotiation in good faith. And if that happens, yeah, we’re going to walk away,” Mr Vance told Fox News yesterday.

“The president’s gonna say – we’re out of this,” Mr Vance said, adding that the US exiting peace talks won’t be good for anyone.

Poland and France will sign a treaty on Friday in which they will commit to helping each other in the event of a military threat, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

The treaty will be signed amid security concerns in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which borders Poland, and amid European doubts about U.S. President Donald Trump’s long-term commitment to the continent’s security.

The treaty, which the two countries will sign in the French city of Nancy, covers topics including defence, energy, nuclear, and transport matters.

“The provision that we have in the treaty is…that in the event of a threat of attacks on Poland and France, both countries commit to provide assistance, including military assistance,” Tusk told reporters before leaving for France.

Europe supports President Donald Trump’s plan for a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, with both the EU and the US prepared to heighten sanctions pressure on Moscow if it does not take peace talks seriously, Germany’s new chancellor said.

Speaking on his first visit to Brussels since being appointed, Friedrich Merz added that the EU and US would continue to support Ukraine, upping their provision if necessary, though he said Germany continued to oppose joint EU debt to finance defence spending.

“We call on Russia at last to set out on the path for real peace negotiations,” he told reporters on Friday. “If that doesn’t happen, we won’t hesitate, together with our European partners and the US, to increase the sanctions pressure.”