Ukraine-Russia conflict newest: Trump says he’s spoken to Putin about ending conflict as North Korea backs ‘just cause’

Former Conservative MP Jack Lopresti, who has joined the Ukrainian military’s foreign legion, has said it is a privilege to join the force and help in “a battle for Europe”.

Mr Lopresti, who was MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke from 2010 to 2024, lost his seat in the July election.

Talking to Sky News, he said the battle is not just for Ukraine.

“This is a battle for Europe. And if Putin succeeds, it’s a green light for dictators everywhere. And we’ll all be in it,” he said in his first interview after entering the war.

He said that the war in Ukraine was also “our battle”.

“I feel very privileged that I’m able to do what I can to help and, with respect, what people need to remember is that the Ukrainians are not only fighting for their own survival, their own freedom, their right to exist as an independent nation, this is also our battle, which is why we’ve done so much to help in training and military equipment,” Mr Lopresti told Sky News.

“We know what (Russian president Vladimir) Putin wants, which is the restoration of the Russian empire. This war started over 10 years ago with the annexation of Crimea. And if Ukraine falls, if we fail here, then we know he won’t stop,” the former lawmaker said.

Russian forces are closing in on the strategically important eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk after capturing a string of villages to its south, and Ukraine has halted production at its only coking coal mine nearby due to the advance.

Pokrovsk is a road and rail hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which had a pre-war population of some 60,000 people. While most people have fled, Ukraine estimated last month that up to 11,000 still remain in the city.

It lies on a key road used by the Ukrainian military to supply other embattled eastern outposts including the towns of Chasiv Yar and Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region.

Ukraine’s only mine that produces coking coal – used in its once vast steel industry and vital for the country’s pre-war economy – is just a 20-minute drive to the west of Pokrovsk, and open source data shows Russian forces are less than 2 km (1.24 miles) from one of the mine shafts.

Moscow says it has annexed Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and sees taking control of Pokrovsk as an important stepping stone to incorporating the entire region into Russia. Kyiv and the West reject Russia’s territorial claims as illegal and accuse Moscow of prosecuting a war of colonial conquest.

Control of the city, which the Russian media call “the gateway to Donetsk”, would allow Moscow to severely disrupt Ukrainian supply lines along the eastern front and boost its campaign to capture Chasiv Yar, which sits on higher ground offering potential control of a wider area.

Squeezing the Ukrainian military’s access to the road network in the vicinity would make it harder for Kyiv’s troops to hold pockets of territory either side of Pokrovsk, which could allow Russia to advance the front line.

Donald Trump’s plan for a quick settlement in Ukraine must not only stop the war but also provide security guarantees that ensure there can be no future Russian aggression, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“A frozen conflict will lead to more aggression again and again. Who then will win prizes and go down in history as the victor? No one. It will be an absolute defeat for everyone, both for us, as is important, and for Trump,” Mr Zelensky told ITV.

“He needs not just to end the war. He needs to act so that (Russian president Vladimir) Putin has no chance to wage war on us again. This is the main thing and everyone should recognise that. That would be a victory,” he said.

He added that the US and the EU must not abandon Ukraine in the process.

“If I had an understanding that America and Europe will not abandon us and they will support us and provide security guarantees, I would be ready for any format for talks,” Mr Zelensky said.

“If there are security guarantees, we can then speak of an end to the ‘hot phase’ of the war. You must understand we need to know just how this war is going to end. That we are all on the same side as America and Europe,” he added.

The Russian economy has shown resilience during the three years of war in Ukraine and Western sanctions. However, as the war approaches its fourth year, the economy faces major challenges with key economic policymakers at odds on how to address them.

Below are the key challenges for the Russian economy in 2025:

• Russian annual inflation reached 9.5% in 2024, driven by high military and national security spending, which is set to account for 41% of total state budget spending in 2025, state subsidies on loans, and spiralling wage growth amid labour shortages.
• Inflation tops the list of economic woes in public opinion polls, with prices for staple foods such as butter, eggs, and vegetables showing double-digit growth last year.

Economic slowdown

• The government projects that economic growth rates will slow to 2.5% in 2025 from around 4% in 2024 as a result of measures to cool down the overheated economy, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects growth at 1.4% this year.
• The pro-government economic think tank TsMAKP estimated that many industrial sectors outside defence have been stagnating since 2023, raising prospects of stagflation, a combination of high inflation and economic stagnation.

Budget deficit

• Russia’s budget deficit reached 1.7% of GDP in 2024, while the country’s National Wealth Fund, the main source of financing the deficit, has been depleted by two-thirds during three years of war.
• The government raised taxes to bring the deficit down to 0.5% of GDP in 2025, but its revenues could also fall due to the latest U.S. energy sanctions, which targeted Russia’s oil and gas sector.

Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” pact in Pyongyang on 19 June, 2024, including a mutual defence clause in case of aggression against either country.

Kim expressed “unconditional support” for “all of Russia’s policies”, including “a full support and firm alliance” for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Putin has said Russia would help North Korea build satellites.

The US and South Korea say North Korea has shipped ballistic missiles, anti-tank rockets and millions of rounds of ammunition for Russia to use in the war. Moscow and Pyongyang have denied weapons transfers.

Ukraine, South Korea and the US say Kim has sent more than 11,000 troops to fight for Russia in its western Kursk region, part of which has been held by Ukraine since August. Ukraine says many North Korean soldiers have been killed and wounded. Moscow has never confirmed or denied their presence.

Ukrainian forces have advanced further inside Kursk, where they launched another attack on Friday, according to a US-based think tank.

“Geolocated footage published on 9 February (yesterday) indicates that Ukrainian forces recently advanced along the 38K-028 Sudzha-Oboyan highway southwest of Russkaya Konopelka,” the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest assessment yesterday.

It said Kyiv’s battlefield gains were confirmed by Russian sources who claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted mechanized attacks southeast of Sudzha near Russkaya Konopelka and Fanaseyevka in Kursk.

Russia launched an overnight drone attack on Kyiv, sparking a fire at a non-residential building in one of the city’s districts, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital said early today.

“All emergency services are on site,” mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a post on his Telegram channel. “So far, there are no injuries reported.”

There are several variants of Army Tactical Missile Systems, a long-range missile system that often carries varying amounts of cluster bomblets.

Ukrainian forces used the US-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles for the first time in October 2023, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying the weapons had “proven themselves.”

Ukraine likely has what are known as M39A1 Block IA ATACMS that are guided in part by Global Positioning System and have a range of 40 to 190 miles. They can carry a payload of 300 bomblets. The M39 Block IA were used in Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to Army documents, and were added to the US arsenal in 1997.