Russia's president Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with governor of the Kursk region at the Kremlin in Moscow on Monday. Mr Putin said Russian troops had taken the city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region in a video announcement posted late Monday by the Kremlin. Mr Putin has signaled an openness to talks, saying last week that Trump’s proposals for ending the war could be “the basis for future agreements,” while adding that no final version exists yet. Taoiseach Micheál Martin welcomes Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on an official Irish state visit at Dublin Airport on Monday night. After Russia drove Ukrainian troops out of Kursk, with help from North Korean soldiers sent by Kim Jong Un to support Putin, Moscow renewed strikes on Pokrovsk during the summer.
