NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday that deployment of North Korean troops in Russia Supporting Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine was a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “growing desperation.”
“Today I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” Rutte told reporters at a news conference in Brussels.
The move marks “a significant escalation” in North Korea’s involvement in the conflict and represents “a dangerous expansion of Russia’s war,” Rutte said.
Rutte said NATO was “actively consulting within the alliance, with Ukraine and with our Indo-Pacific partners” on developments. He said he was expected to meet with the South Korean president and Ukraine’s defense minister soon.
“Deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to both Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security,” Rutte said.
The addition of thousands of North Korean troops to Europe’s largest conflict since World War II will increase pressure on Ukraine’s tired and overstretched military and inflame geopolitical tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Indo region. peaceful in the broad sense, including Japan and Australia, according to Western officials. say.
By Han Guan / AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to reshape global power dynamics. He sought to create a counterbalance to Western influence with a summit of BRICS countries, including the leaders of China and India, in Russia last week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, citing intelligence reports, said last Friday that North Korean troops would be on the battlefield within days. He previously said his government had information that some 10,000 North Korean troops were prepared to join Russian forces fighting against his country.
On Monday, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said North Korea had “sent about 10,000 troops in total for training in eastern Russia, which will likely reinforce Russian forces near of Ukraine over the coming weeks.
Declining to comment on Rutte’s statement that North Korean troops were already in Kursk, Sing said that “a part” of North Korean soldiers “have already moved closer to Ukraine, and we are increasingly concerned about Russia’s intention to use these soldiers in combat or in support. combat operations against Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk Oblast of Russia, near the Ukrainian border.
Haley Ott and
Éléonore Watson
contributed to this report.