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Lavrov demands US answers
Russia raised with Washington the issue of alleged U.S. involvement in Ukrainian attacks against it, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in comments broadcast on Friday.
“We have submitted a series of questions to the State Department requesting comment”
Lavrov told state TV, “We have submitted a series of questions to the State Department requesting comment, including on the matter of intelligence data,” and said Russia believes the United States is deeply involved in organizing and executing strikes deep within Russian territory against civilian targets.
He said no immediate comment was available from the U.S. side, and he described the alleged U.S. support as including the supply of intelligence.
Lavrov also said Putin was willing to receive Trump’s envoys on Ukraine if they came to Russia again, adding, “The question is what they will be bringing with them.”
Tougher methods, no ceasefire
Lavrov said Russia would intensify efforts to destroy Western supplies to the Ukrainian military, telling state television, “We will make our methods much tougher in order to dismantle everything that fuels Kyiv’s war machine from the West.”
He also ruled out an immediate ceasefire, saying, “We must only stop once there is a long-term, reliable and sustainable settlement.”
In the same remarks, Lavrov argued that stopping the conflict along the contact line is impossible because it would “cross out the feat of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers” who defeated Nazism.
He further said Moscow would not issue ultimatums while it awaited a response after forwarding questions to the State Department about intelligence and American involvement in strikes on civilian targets.
Escalation and regional implications
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said Russia and North Korea are considering a plan to deploy additional North Korean troops to three western Russian regions bordering Ukraine, freeing up Russian units for the front lines.
“North Korea may increase western Russia deployment to 50,000 troops: Ukraine”
The plan would increase North Korea’s deployment to 50,000 troops by the end of November, according to the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, and the agency estimated around 9,500 North Korean ground troops are currently in Russia.
The same report said more than 10,000 North Korean troops have deployed to western Russia so far and engaged in battle with Ukrainian forces, with most deployed in Kursk and the provisional plan envisioning North Korean units taking on most duties in Bryansk and Belgorod.
In a video statement released Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that if North Korea gains combat experience, it would mean “increased danger” to Japan and South Korea.
