North Korea's involvement in Russia's war on Ukraine has generated more than $20 billion for its economy so far, according to a recent estimate, and is helping Pyongyang to acquire even more high-tech weapons.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that it was not easy to agree with the United States on the key parts of a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine and that Russia would never again allow itself to depend economically on the West.