Ukraine-Russia live: Zelensky expects Putin to deploy North Korean troops on the frontline as soon as weekend

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Brics leaders on Thursday that the Middle East was on the brink of a full-scale war after a sharp rise in tension between Israel and Iran, though the Kremlin chief also faced calls to end the war in Ukraine.

The BRICS summit, attended by more than 20 leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan, has shown the depth of Russia’s relations beyond the Western world.

Much discussion at the summit in the Russian city of Kazan was dedicated to the war in Ukraine and the violence in the Middle East, though there were no sign that anything specific would be done to end either conflict.

“The degree of confrontation between Israel and Iran has sharply increased. All this resembles a chain reaction and puts the entire Middle East on the brink of a full-scale war,” Putin, sitting beside Chinese President Xi Jinping, said.

Xi, speaking after Putin, said that China wanted a political settlement in Ukraine, and suggested joint efforts by Beijing and Brasilia offered the best chance of peace.

“We need to work for an early de-escalation of the situation and pave the way for a political settlement,” Xi said.

On the Middle East, Xi said that there should be a comprehensive ceasefire Gaza, a halt to the spread of war in Lebanon and a return to the two-state solution under which states for both Israel and Palestine would be established.

A Russian strike on the frontline town of Kupiansk in northeastern Ukraine killed one person and wounded 10 more, regional authorities said on Thursday.

The governor, Oleh Syniehubov, initially said two people had been killed and three injured in the strike, but subsequently he corrected his statement on the death toll.

Regional prosecutors said later that the person who had died was a woman who had been admitted to hospital in a serious condition.

“The enemy struck near a shop and the town market,” Syniehubov said in his initial statement.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told Brics leaders including Russian president Vladimir Putin that the world needed peace in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine and Sudan.

“Across the board, we need peace,” Mr Guterres said at the Brics summit in the Russian city of Kazan.

“We need peace in Ukraine. A just peace in line with the UN Charter, international law and UN General Assembly resolutions.”

A Russian strike on the frontline town of Kupiansk in northeastern Ukraine wounded four people, Kharkiv region governor Oleh Synehubov said on Thursday.

Synehubov initially said two people had been killed and three injured in the strike, but subsequently he corrected his statement, adding that at present four people were wounded, including a woman who had been hauled out of the rubble.

“The enemy struck near a shop and the town market,” Synehubov said in his initial statement.

Later he said a two-storey retail building had been damaged, along with a dozen kiosks and the windows of nearby homes.

Russia occupied Kupiansk in the early days of its 2022 invasion but was pushed out by a lightning Ukrainian counter-offensive in September that year.

In recent months, Moscow’s forces have been advancing slowly back towards the town and are now less than 4 km (2.5 miles) away from its northern outskirts according to open-source maps.

The lower house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, voted on Thursday to ratify a treaty of partnership between Russia and North Korea.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed the mutual defence pact during Putin’s visit to Pyongyang in June. Russia and North Korea have deepened cooperation since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, with South Korea and Ukraine saying North Korean troops are preparing to deploy in support of Russia.