Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump admits Putin could invade more of Europe after meeting Zelensky at Nato summit

Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof is “hopeful” that the 18th sanctions package against Russia will happen despite some EU countries like Slovakia and Hungary opposing it, he said on Thursday ahead of meeting other EU leaders in Brussels.

Slovakia has said it will not support a new European Union sanctions package on Russia and will demand a delay in the vote until Slovak concerns over gas supplies after 2027 are resolved.

North Korea may send more troops to Russia to fight against Ukraine this summer, South Korean lawmakers have claimed citing the country’s intelligence agency.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) believes Russia may be readying to mount a large-scale assault against Ukraine in July or August, South Korean member of parliament Lee Seong-kweun told reporters.

This assessment is based on new round-up of troops by the North Korean military, and the visit of a top Russian presidential security official.

Pyongyang is likely to receive technical advice on satellite launches and missile guidance systems in return, the briefing said according to Mr Lee.

Russia and North Korea have said their cooperation is based on a treaty signed by Vladimir Putin and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un, which includes a mutual defence pact.

China’s foreign ministry on Thursday denied that China supplied weapons to parties in the Ukraine war, and accused “relevant Nato personnel” of slandering China’s “normal military build-up”.

Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, was responding to Nato chief Mark Rutte saying there was a “massive build-up” of the military in China, and that China was supporting the war effort in Ukraine.

South Korea’s spy agency has reported that North Korea is continuing to supply Russia with weapons for its war against Ukraine, according to a South Korean lawmaker.

North Korea has been supporting Russia’s war effort through military equipment and personnel.

An international watchdog, the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, found that through 2024 North Korea send artillery, ballistic missiles and combat vehicles to Russia.

South Korea’s intelligence agency said that as of the end of April, about 600 North Korean troops had died fighting for Russia against Ukraine. It estimated 15,000 troops had been deployed from North Korea to assist in Russia’s war.

Vladimir Putin will not attend the BRICS summit in Brazil next week because of an outstanding International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued against him, a Kremlin aide said.

The warrant was issued in 2023, a little over a year after Russia launched its war against Ukraine. The ICC accused the Russian president of the war crime of forcibly deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.

Russia denies allegations of war crimes and the Kremlin, which did not sign the ICC’s founding treaty, has dismissed the warrant as null and void.

But it means that Putin needs to weigh the risk he might be arrested if he travels to another country that is a signatory to the ICC treaty.

In 2023, he decided not to travel to one signatory, South Africa, for a BRICS summit.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin would take part in the summit via video link.

“This is due to certain difficulties, in the context of the ICC requirement. In that context, the Brazilian government could not take a clear position that would allow our president to participate in this meeting,” Ushakov said on Wednesday.

Russia has warned that European supplies of arms and mercenaries to Ukraine have increased the threat of destabilisation in the region.

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov made the comments on Thursday, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported, a day after allied nations agreed to boost defence spending and continue supporting Ukraine at the Nato summit in the Netherlands.

“Attempts to prolong military actions by supplying Ukraine with arms and mercenaries increase the threat of destabilisation. Including in Europe itself,” Belousov was quoted as saying.