Ceding large swathes of Ukrainian land to Russia under a peace proposal suggested by US President Donald Trump would be “a capitulation,” Germany’s defense minister warned on Sunday, as North Korea acknowledged for the first time it had deployed troops to fight for Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed on Saturday what he called the complete failure of an offensive by Ukrainian forces into Russia's Kursk region after they were expelled from the last village Moscow said they had been holding.

Trump said Saturday that he doubts Russia’s Vladimir Putin wants to end his war in Ukraine, expressing new skepticism that a peace deal can be reached soon.

Donald Trump expressed mounting frustration with Russia over its continued attacks on Ukraine but asserted that a deal to end the war remained within reach. The US president on Sunday evening reiterated his criticism of Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s persistent air strikes on Ukraine,