Putin Sets Accepting ‘New Russian Territories’ as Condition to Hold Talks with Biden

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Russia’s President (EPA) – US President Joe Biden says he is willing to hold talks on Ukraine with Putin (EPA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday denounced the “destructive” Western policies and support for Kyiv (Reuters)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Russia’s President (EPA) – US President Joe Biden says he is willing to hold talks on Ukraine with Putin (EPA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday denounced the “destructive” Western policies and support for Kyiv (Reuters)
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Putin Sets Accepting ‘New Russian Territories’ as Condition to Hold Talks with Biden

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Russia’s President (EPA) – US President Joe Biden says he is willing to hold talks on Ukraine with Putin (EPA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday denounced the “destructive” Western policies and support for Kyiv (Reuters)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Russia’s President (EPA) – US President Joe Biden says he is willing to hold talks on Ukraine with Putin (EPA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday denounced the “destructive” Western policies and support for Kyiv (Reuters)

Moscow rejected US President Joe Biden’s conditions for negotiations on Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Biden, speaking beside French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, said the only way to end the war in Ukraine was for Putin to pull troops out and that if Putin was looking to end the conflict then Biden would be prepared to speak to him.

“I’m prepared to speak with Putin if in fact there is an interest in him deciding he’s looking for a way to end the war,” Biden said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov struck a dovish tone when asked about Biden's remarks, saying that Putin remained open to negotiations but that Russia would not pull out of Ukraine.

Peskov said that the refusal of the United States to recognize “the new territories” as Russian was hindering a search for any potential compromise.

“This significantly complicates the search for mutual ground for discussions,” Peskov said.

“While military operations continue, the president of the Russian Federation has always been, is and remains open to negotiations in order to ensure our interests,” Peskov said on a conference call.

“Of course, the most preferable way to achieve our interests is through peaceful, diplomatic means.”

But he affirmed that Moscow would “certainly” not hold diplomatic talks over the US conditions.

Meanwhile, Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a phone call on Friday, the first since mid-September, that the German and Western line on Ukraine was “destructive” and urged Berlin to rethink its approach, the Kremlin said.

“Attention was drawn to the destructive line of Western states, including Germany, which are pumping the Kyiv regime with weapons and training the Ukrainian military,” the Kremlin said.

“All this, as well as comprehensive political and financial support for Ukraine, leads to the fact that Kyiv completely rejects the idea of ​​any negotiations.”

It said Putin defended Russia's missile strikes on targets in Ukraine as a forced response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian infrastructure, including a key bridge between Russia and Crimea and Russian energy facilities.

Putin stressed that Moscow should be allowed to participate in investigations into what it called the “terrorist” attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea.

He has said he has no regrets about launching what he calls Russia's “special military operation” against Ukraine, casting it as a watershed moment when Russia finally stood up to arrogant Western hegemony after decades of humiliation in the years since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.



North Korea's Kim Vows to Win Anti-US Battle Marking Korean War Anniversary

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery, to mark the 72nd anniversary of the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on July 27, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery, to mark the 72nd anniversary of the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on July 27, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS
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North Korea's Kim Vows to Win Anti-US Battle Marking Korean War Anniversary

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery, to mark the 72nd anniversary of the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on July 27, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery, to mark the 72nd anniversary of the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on July 27, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country would achieve victory in "anti-imperalist, anti-US" battles, as the country marked the anniversary of the Korean War armistice, state media reported on Sunday.

Kim "affirmed that our state and its people would surely achieve the great cause of building a rich country with a strong army and become honorable victors in the anti-imperialist, anti-US showdown," KCNA state news agency said, referring to his visit to a war museum on a previous day.

North Korea signed an armistice agreement with the United States and China on July 27, 1953, ending the fighting in the three-year war. US generals signed the agreement representing the United Nations forces that backed South Korea.

North Korea calls July 27 "Victory Day" even though the armistice drew a border dividing the Korean peninsula roughly equally in area and restoring balance after the two sides had made major advances back and forth during the war, Reuters said.

South Korea does not mark the day with any major events.

North Korea is now fighting alongside Russia in the war in Ukraine. Thousands of North Korean troops were deployed to Russia's Kursk region, while Pyongyang has also supplied Russia with munitions. It may deploy more troops in July or August, South Korea has said.

Kim also visited memorials honoring the veterans of the 1950-53 war including the Tower of Friendship remembering the Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers who fought with the North Koreans, and met soldiers in an artillery regiment to celebrate the day, state media KCNA said.