September 5, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expects to engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia to continue actively advancing arms negotiations between the two countries, according to US officials.

“We have information that Kim Jong Un expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia,” said National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson of ongoing arms negotiations between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Monday the possibility of holding joint exercises with North Korea is being discussed.

"We are discussing it with everyone, including the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," he told reporters, referring to North Korea by its official name. "Why not? These are our neighbors."

Here's what else is happening in Russia's war in Ukraine:

Russian forces have thwarted an attempt by a Ukrainian "sabotage" group to enter southwest Russia, a regional governor claimed Monday.

Weapons and ammunition "abandoned by the saboteurs were found at the site of the clash," he added.

Ukraine has not commented on the alleged incident.

Some context: Bryansk, which neighbors northern Ukraine and eastern Belarus, has previously been targeted in other cross-border raids. Bogomaz claimed last Thursday that a Ukrainian sabotage operation had been foiled in the region, with several Ukrainians killed or captured. Responding to those claims, the Ukrainian Security Service told CNN: "We do not comment on the fantasies of the Russian special services."

Russia's conditions to revive the Black Sea grain deal amount to "blackmail," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told national news agency Ukrinform on Monday. 

The deal "must be restored," but not "at the expense of blackmail and fulfilling Russia’s whims," he said. 

Russia withdrew from the initiative in July, nearly a year after it was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations to guarantee the safe passage of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea and help facilitate Russian exports of grain and fertilizer. Its withdrawal has caused spikes in wheat prices and fears about food security worldwide. 

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart that Moscow will be ready to consider rejoining the deal "as soon as all the agreements on lifting restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products are fully implemented." 

Russia claims it was forced to pull out of the deal and that promised guarantees made about its own agricultural and fertilizer exports had not been upheld. 

In his interview with Ukrinform Monday, Kuleba said "there were no legal or political grounds for the Russians to withdraw from the agreement," adding that if Ukraine "makes concessions now," Russia will "come back and then once again withdraw a month later to put forward new terms."

Kuleba claimed Russia cannot be trusted, so it is necessary to develop alternative maritime export lanes, which can be accomplished by Ukraine with strengthened security. 

Turkey relations: Following his meeting with Putin on Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ukraine needs to "soften its approach" to revive the grain deal "in order to be able to take common steps with Russia." 

Kuleba told Ukrinform that Ukraine and Turkey have "trusting relations" and he anticipates that discussions will be held between the Ukrainian and Turkish presidents about the grain deal. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that he visited combat brigades in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions to present state awards and speak directly with frontline troops.

The president also visited military doctors and medical staff, he said.

“I awarded our military doctors and thanked the staff of the stabilization points — they are great people who save heroes, restore lives and strength,” Zelensky said. 

Zelensky said he presented more than 50 awards including several Hero of Ukraine medals, the country's highest honor.

Russian and Belarusian swimmers and divers will be allowed to compete at World Aquatics events as individual neutral athletes after new criteria was set by the sports’ governing body on Monday.

In a statement on its website, World Aquatics said a maximum of one neutral athlete from Russia and one from Belarus would be allowed to compete per event. Athletes will not be permitted to show active support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nor be represented by the country’s flags or national anthems.

The new rules align with the International OIympic Committee’s recommendations to allow for athletes from the two countries to compete, paving the way for Russian and Belarusian swimmers and divers to take part in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The criteria was unanimously decided on by the World Aquatics Bureau, a body made up of the president of World Aquatics, Husain Al Musallam, and 39 other members from around the world. It will be implemented by the Aquatics Integrity Unit, which handles all integrity-related matters in the sport, according to its website.

World Aquatics said it conducted a survey drawing from international junior, elite and masters athletes, in which 67% of respondents supported the participation of individual neutral athletes.

CNN reached out to the Ukrainian Swimming Federation for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expects to engage with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Russia to continue actively advancing arms negotiations between the two countries, according to the US government.

Watson did not say when and where a potential meeting between Kim and Putin in Russia might take place, but it would follow Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit to North Korea in July and comes after US officials last week said the two countries are “actively advancing” their negotiations over another potential arms deal that could see Pyongyang providing weaponry to support Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.

The Shoigu visit was made “to try to convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Russia,” Watson said. “We urge the DPRK to cease its arms negotiations with Russia and abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia.”

Since that trip another group of Russian officials traveled to Pyongyang for follow-on discussions, NSC strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said last week. Putin and Kim have also have exchanged letters pledging to increase their bilateral cooperation, he added.

The New York Times first reported the potential meeting in Russia, saying it is expected to take place this month.

CNN has asked the Russian embassy in Washington for comment.

Read more here.

Residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were hit by a series of Russian strikes on Monday, according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces.

Russia launched five missile attacks and 68 airstrikes, and fired 42 times from multiple launch rocket systems at Ukrainian troop positions and other populated areas, it said on Telegram. 

The attacks resulted in casualties, the general staff said but did not provide detailed information.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, more than 15 localities came under fire, including Mala, Tokmachka, Orikhov, Robotyne and Stepnohirsk, the general staff said. 

Russia launched an airstrike near Budarky in Kharkiv region and more than 10 localities came under artillery fire in the area of Kupiansk, it added.

The general staff said Ukrainian forces were able to repel strikes in the area north of Klishchiivka in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian Defense Forces also conducted offensive operations in the Melitopol area on Monday, including 11 strikes on Russian positions and two strikes on anti-aircraft missile systems. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian leader Vladimir Putin met on Monday in Russia’s southern coastal city of Sochi amid efforts to bring Moscow back into the critical Black Sea grain deal that was abandoned by Putin in July.

Television footage showed the two men smiling and shaking hands upon Erdogan’s arrival to Putin’s residence, where the Russian president suggested that he take a vacation in the Black Sea resort.

In remarks ahead of their talks, Putin told Erdogan that Russia is “open to negotiations” on the grain deal.

Their discussions were also expected to tackle a proposal from Moscow to supply 1 million tons of Russian grain to Turkey, which with financial assistance from Qatar would then be distributed to countries most in need, the official Russian news agency TASS said.

The supply of natural gas from Russia to Turkey was also expected be part of Monday’s talks, according to TASS.

The first in-person meeting between the two leaders in nearly a year took place amid what experts say is a possible reconfiguration of the Erdogan-Putin “special relationship,” as the Turkish strongman feels more secure in his final term in office.

Editor's Note: A version of this story appears in CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Monday the possibility of holding joint exercises with North Korea is being discussed.

During a visit to North Korea in July, Shoigu described North Korea as "an important partner of Russia, with which we are connected by a common border and a rich history of cooperation."

On Monday, he reiterated that partnership, recalling some old Russian sayings.

“You don’t choose your neighbors,” he said, adding: “it’s better to live in peace and harmony with your neighbors.” 

“Especially with such a neighbor, with whom we have quite a lot in common in history and life,” he said.