Three fold rule

Hello everyone,

I don't understand the three fold rule.  I understand that when a position is repeated 3x, a player can claim a draw.

Questions: do both players need to have the same positions? does it have to be forced 3x same position?

The three fold rule exists because "no progress is being made" yet, when one player makes progress and the other just makes 3x same move, can he still claim a draw?

thank you for considering replying to my questions.

Marcel