North Korean forces are not deployed in Ukraine, according to spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Russian President Vladimir Putin invited his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Moscow to have a conversation, not to capitulate, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"He was invited to Moscow to talk, not to capitulate," Peskov told a press briefing on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia.
Zelenskyy on Thursday said he believed Putin invited him to Moscow to prevent the meeting from taking place.
Putin on Friday repeated his invitation, which was first extended on Wednesday, calling the Russian capital “the best place” for such an encounter.
Asked about the presence of North Korean soldiers in Ukraine, Peskov said there are currently no military personnel from this country present on Ukrainian territory. "They are not deployed there," he said.
In May, the Russian Defense Ministry thanked North Korean military personnel for their role in driving back Ukrainian troops from Russia’s Kursk Oblast, which Ukraine had invaded in early August 2024.
The Russian General Staff announced the complete liberation of the region’s territory from Ukrainian forces in the spring of 2025.
Putin later expressed gratitude to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his military for their participation in liberating the oblast. Pyongyang subsequently presented its servicemen with state awards.
During a personal meeting with Kim in China on Wednesday, Putin again thanked him for the assistance.
“On your initiative, as is well known, your special forces took part in the liberation of the Kursk region, in full accordance with our new agreement,” Putin said, lauding North Korean soldiers as having fought “courageously and heroically.”
The strategic treaty between Russia and North Korea, which entered into force last December, includes a clause on military assistance in the event of aggression against either party.
This clause was invoked as a legal basis for the participation of North Korean personnel in military operations in the Kursk region.
While Kyiv reported the capture of two North Korean prisoners in Kursk Oblast in February, it has never confirmed the presence of that country’s military operating on Ukrainian territory.
