Ukraine-Russia war latest: Russia’s Lavrov signals use of ‘any means’ as North Korean troops kept from combat
Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said his country would be “ready to use any means” so that Moscow does not suffer “strategic defeat” in its war against Ukraine.
He made the comment during an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson which was released as he arrived in Malta for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on his first visit to an EU state since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In his 80-minute interview, Mr Lavrov said the West should abandon any notion that Russia had no “red lines” and laid out conditions for peace in Ukraine.
In Malta, Mr Lavrov clashed with Western leaders before storming out of the EU security meeting, as the Kremlin faced mounting criticism over its prolonged war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, thousands of North Korean soldiers stationed at checkpoints in Russia’s embattled Kursk Oblast are being kept away from direct combat, Ukraine’s military-run National Resistance Center reported.
Between 10,000 and 12,000 dispatched troops are being used as a “second echelon” as ties deepen between Russia and North Korea, the Center said.
