Ukrainian troops forces out of Kursk region, Russia claims

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Where Ukraine-Russia negotiations stand

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All Ukrainian troops have been forced out of Russia's Kursk region, the Russian military claims.

Valery. Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff for Russia's Armed Forces, gave the news to President Vladimir Putin in a meeting on Saturday.

"Today, the last settlement in the Kursk region, the village of Gornal, has been liberated from Ukrainian forces," Gerasimov said during a video conference meeting with Putin, according to AFP.

Ukrainian officials did not confirm the claim. In its morning update Saturday, Ukraine's General Staff said that its forces continue to hold back Russian troops in the Kursk sector, pushing back against Russian claims that Ukraine has been fully dislodged from the territory.

In a statement, Putin congratulated the Russian soldiers and commanders and said that Kyiv's incursion had "completely failed".

"The complete defeat of our enemy along Kursk's border region creates the right conditions for further successes for our troops and in other important areas of the front," he said.

Ukraine launched an audacious offensive into the border Kursk region in August last year, catching even its Western allies off guard and dealing an embarrassing blow to Moscow. It took control of an estimated 500 square miles of land. Ukraine had hoped that controlling the Russian territory would give it leverage during any future ceasefire talks. However, their gains were slowly eroded and Ukrainian troops continued to lose control of the territory throughout early 2025.

Now, Russian troops are at the border and are poised to beef up threats to the Ukrainian region of Sumy, which faces Kursk, AFP reported.

Gerasimov also confirmed Saturday that North Korean soldiers fought against Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk region. Gerasimov said that they took part in "combat missions shoulder to shoulder with Russian servicemen during the repelling of the Ukrainian incursion" and "demonstrated high professionalism, showed fortitude, courage and heroism in battle."

In the fall, Ukraine, the U.S. and South Korea all said that North Korea, which previously had supplied weapons to Moscow, had deployed 10,000-12,000 of its troops to Russia to fight in Kursk.

Moscow and Pyongyang until now had responded vaguely to the South Korean and Western claims of the troop deployment, emphasizing that their military cooperation conforms with international law, without directly admitting the presence of the North Korean forces in Russia.

The news out of Kursk came as U.S. President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in Vatican City on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral.

The two presidents met at St. Peter's Basilica for about 15 minutes and agreed to continue negotiations later on Saturday, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nykyforov said.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also confirmed the meeting and said they "met privately today and had a very productive discussion."

Soon after the end of the pope's funeral, Mr. Trump departed Italy for the U.S.

U.S. Middle East Steve Witkoff met with Putin on Friday, and Mr. Trump said both sides were "very close to a deal."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that the Kremlin is "ready to reach a deal" with the U.S. on Ukraine, though he also said some elements need to be "fine tuned."

"The President of the United States believes, and I think rightly so, that we are moving in the right direction," Lavrov said.

Meanwhile, in a statement Friday night, Zelenskyy said that "very significant meetings may take place" in the coming days, and that an unconditional ceasefire was needed.

"Real pressure on Russia is needed so that they accept either the American proposal to cease fire and move towards peace, or our proposal — whichever one can truly work and ensure a reliable, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire, and then — a dignified peace and security guarantees," he said.