Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to brief him on the war in Ukraine ahead of the Russian president’s planned summit with President Donald Trump in Alaska.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30% of the Donetsk region that it controls as part of a ceasefire deal, a proposal the leader categorically rejected.

Ukraine claimed a strike on a key helium plant in Russia amid intensified attacks on energy infrastructure this month.

The soldiers, from the Grafenwoehr-based 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment (Airborne), used a prototype of a fully autonomous tactical vehicle called the Ultra to see how the Army might roll as its revamped fighting doctrine continues to take shape.

The talks would focus on “the current situation in Ukraine with a view to the planned meeting between U.S. President Trump and Russian President Putin.”

European nations said peace in the war-torn nation can’t be resolved without Kyiv, ahead of an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

Washington and Moscow are aiming to reach a deal to halt the war in Ukraine that would lock in Russia’s occupation of territory seized during its military invasion.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Germany won’t authorize exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in Gaza “until further notice.” The decision came after the Israeli Cabinet announced plans to take over Gaza City.

President Donald Trump says he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next Friday in Alaska to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, a potential breakthrough after weeks of expressing frustration that more was not being done to quell the fighting.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would meet with Vladimir Putin even if the Russian leader will not meet with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in comments that suggested Washington and Moscow could soon hold a summit.