President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that his "Victory Plan", intended to bring peace to Ukraine while keeping the country strong and avoiding all "frozen conflicts", was now complete after much consultation, Reuters reported.

Zelenskiy pledged last month to present his plan to U.S. President Joe Biden, presumably next week when he attends sessions of the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly.

While providing daily updates on the plan's preparation, Zelenskiy has given few clues of the contents, indicating only that it aims to create terms acceptable to Ukraine, now locked in conflict with Russia for more than 2-1/2 years.

"Today, it can be said that our victory plan is fully prepared. All the points, all key focus areas and all necessary detailed additions of the plan have been defined," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

"The most important thing is the determination to implement it.

There was, Zelenskiy said, no alternative to peace, "no freezing of the war or any other manipulations that would simply postpone Russian aggression to another stage".

On Tuesday, the president said a meeting with top commanders had produced "good and strong content" in military terms, "precisely the kind that can significantly strengthen Ukraine".

Zelenskiy has used as the basis for negotiations a peace plan he presented in late 2022 calling for a withdrawal of all Russian troops, the restoration of Ukraine's post-Soviet borders and a means to bring Russia to account for its invasion, read the report.

The plan was the focal point of a "peace summit" hosted by Switzerland in June with participants pledging to convene a second summit later this year. Russia was not invited to the June summit and branded it as meaningless, though Ukraine and its allies say Moscow could attend the next gathering.

Zelenskiy has rejected any notion of negotiations while Russian troops occupy nearly 20% of the country's territory.

Russia has repeatedly said it is willing to negotiate, but rules out discussions while Ukrainian forces remain in its Kursk region after it launched an incursion into the area last month.

North Korea tested new tactical ballistic missiles using super-large warheads and modified cruise missiles on Wednesday as leader Kim Jong Un called for stronger conventional weapons and nuclear capabilities, state news agency KCNA reported.

The tests to improve weapons capabilities are required because of the grave threat posed by outside forces to the security of the country, Kim, who led the tests, was quoted as saying.

The account followed the firing of multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday reported by the South Korean military, which was the second time the North test-launched missiles in a week.

Last week, North Korea also unveiled a uranium enrichment facility, in its first such public report, Reuters reported.

Kim stressed "the need to continue to bolster up the nuclear force and have the strongest military technical capability and overwhelming offensive capability in the field of conventional weapons too," KCNA said.

Wednesday's tests involved the new tactical ballistic Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 missiles, KCNA said, indicating it was part of a series of short-range ballistic missiles it had been developing.

The missile was mounted with a 4.5-ton super-large conventional warhead, KCNA said.

North Korea's state media reported the tests of missiles with the same name in July, which was considered a partial success. On Thursday, state media released photographs of a projectile striking a target in a hilly area, read the report.

South Korea's military said on Thursday two ballistic missiles landed in a mountainous area in the North's northeast.

Such a missile launch test with an intention to hit an inland target is likely unprecedented, said Shin Seung-ki who is the head of research on North Korea's military at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul.

North Korea routinely test-launches missiles to drop in the sea or on an uninhabited island.

The particular missile with the Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 designation is still under development but Russia may want it soon if its performance and reliability can be guaranteed through further testing, Shin said.

"North Korea will want to shorten that time as much as possible," he said.

Kyiv officials and independent experts have said there were signs some of the missiles used by Russia in the war against Ukraine were North Korean-made, including some that were produced this year. Moscow and Pyongyang both deny any illicit arms trade or shipments.

The North's military also tested a strategic cruise missile that has been upgraded for combat use, KCNA said.

North Korea has criticized military drills by the South Korean and U.S. militaries, including a large-scale exercise conducted this summer, as preparations for war on the Korean peninsula.

The allies say the drills are defensive in nature and aimed at maintaining readiness against any North Korean aggression.

Sweden, which has been known for years for its welcoming policy toward migrants, plans to increase its cash offer of $978 to about $34,000 to those who voluntarily return home.

Last week, the Swedish government said it would raise the 10,000 krona ($978) per adult to 350,000 krona ($34,000) and simplify the process involved in applying for the grant.

The government said this is in a bid to create incentive for migrants to return home.

This increase is expected to come into effect in 2026.

Sweden is one of a number of European countries taking a harder stance on immigration.

Sweden, with a population of 10.6 million people, had more than 250,000 refugees in mid-2023.

One politician, Ludvig Aspling, said in an interview recently that only 70 people applied for the grant last year, and only one got it.

However, 16,000 migrants from Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East left Sweden voluntarily last year without the grant.

Addressing a press conference last week, Sweden’s migration Minister Johan Forssell described the new policy as a “paradigm shift” in the Nordic country which in 2015 opened its borders to 162,877 asylum seekers, mostly of Syrian, Afghan, and Iraqi descent as a “humanitarian superpower”.

According to AFP news agency a number of other European countries already have schemes that pay migrants to return to their home countries, with offers of around $2,000 in Germany, $2,800 in France, $1,400 in Norway and more than $15,000 in Denmark.

The move however by Sweden has sparked widespread condemnation in the country from Swedes who took to social media to voice their objections.

One social media user, named only user-cb3l said: “They (migrants) will take the money but never leave. It's too late for band aid solutions.”

Somali78 was quite upfront about what he would do and said:
“I will take it and I will never leave.”

Susann Leinonen said: “Now more people come to my country for the money and I have to work for more years.”

Featherface01 meanwhile said on social media that “they'll take that 34k, leave Sweden and show up in Britain a week later.”

Tehmudjinkhan2207 queried whether this was a good idea. He said: “I’m Swedish, I don’t understand why we need to throw money at every single person in the world. When you hand out free money, every single scammer in the world will come here to take advantage. Criminal gangs will find ways to abuse this easily.”

But Johnmash327 warned: “I'm in Africa, once our brothers hear this, you'll regret this bad idea i'm telling you.”