Russia admits N. Korean deployment

[Anchor]

After a heated exchange and pointing of fingers at each other in the White House, the presidents of the U.S. and Ukraine have met again.

This time, they are at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, where the Pope's funeral was held.

They sat facing each other with only a few chairs in between. We bring you the news of Russia's official acknowledgment of North Korean military participation, along with the details of the private meeting between the two leaders.

Reporter Jo Bit-na reports.

[Report]

The news of North Korean military deployment in the Ukraine war became known last October, but both Russia and North Korea denied it.

Around that time, the Ukrainian military, which once occupied an area twice the size of Seoul in Russia's Kursk, began to be pushed back.

In this context, Russia officially stated that "North Korean troops made significant contributions."

[Valery Gerasimov/Russian Chief of General Staff: "North Korean soldiers and officers demonstrated high professionalism, resilience, courage, and heroic actions while repelling Ukraine."]

Russia declared that it had completely restored control over Kursk.

This means Ukraine has no land left to negotiate for territorial exchanges.

[Vladimir Putin/Russian President: "(The restoration of Kursk) has created good conditions for further success of our military."]

U.S. President Trump met separately with Ukrainian President Zelensky before the Pope's funeral mass, then issued an unprecedented strong warning to Russia.

He said it seems that Putin had no intention of stopping the war, mentioning financial sanctions and secondary sanctions.

However, Russia continued its large-scale drone strikes.

Yet at the same time, they expressed to the U.S. that they are ready to engage in peace talks with Ukraine unconditionally, showing confidence.

While President Trump has increased pressure for peace negotiations, it seems that Russia holds the initiative.

Ukraine is under pressure to concede territory, and now has very few cards left to play.

This is Jo Bit-na from KBS News in Berlin.