In Russia, President Vladimir Putin met at the Kremlin Monday with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui. Their meeting came as Ukraine’s government warned 11,000 North Korean troops are in Russia’s Kursk region bordering Ukraine preparing to be sent into combat. Ukraine seized part of the Russian territory in a surprise counterinvasion in August. In Brussels, NATO chief Mark Rutte called North Korea’s entry into the Ukraine war “an escalation.”

Mark Rutte: “North Korean troops being deployed in Russia against Ukraine, this is a significant escalation, and it makes us even more focused and determined to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to fight off the Russians, including the North Koreans.”