Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies on Tuesday “not to hide” and to respond to evidence of North Korean involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
He said in his nightly address that Ukraine had information about the preparation of two units — possibly up to 12,000 North Korean troops — to take part in the war alongside Russian forces.
“This is a challenge, but we know how to respond to this challenge. It is important that partners do not hide from this challenge as well,” Zelensky said.
The head of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence told the US publication “The War Zone” that Kyiv expected North Korean forces to turn up on Wednesday in Russia’s southern Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched an incursion in August.
“We are waiting for the first units tomorrow in the Kursk direction, Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov told the media outlet. “It is unclear at the moment how many or how they will be equipped. We will see after a couple of days.”
In his remarks, Zelensky said neither North Korea nor Russia took any account of the number of dead in a conflict.
“But all of us in the world have an equal interest in ending the war, not in prolonging it. We must therefore stop Russia and its accomplices,” he said.
“If North Korea can intervene in a war in Europe, then the pressure on this regime is definitely insufficient.”
British Defense Secretary John Healey said on Tuesday it was “highly likely” that North Korea had begun sending hundreds of troops to help Russia in the more than 2-1/2-year-old conflict.
A senior official at South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office said Seoul may consider directly supplying weapons to Ukraine as part of measures to counter military ties between North Korea and Russia.
A top US diplomat said on Monday that Washington was consulting with its allies on the implications of North Korean involvement and added that such a development would be a “dangerous and highly concerning development” if true.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday the dispatch of North Korean troops would significantly escalate the conflict.
Zelensky calls on allies ‘not to hide’, respond to North Korean involvement in war
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Zelensky calls on allies ‘not to hide’, respond to North Korean involvement in war
- NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday the dispatch of North Korean troops would significantly escalate the conflict
Russia will examine Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ invite: Putin
- Invites were sent to dozens of world leaders with a request for $1 billion for a permanent seat on the board
MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said Russia would study US President Donald Trump’s invitation to join his “Board of Peace.”
“The Russian foreign ministry has been charged with studying the documents that were sent to us and to consult on the topic with our strategic partners,” Putin said during a televised government meeting. “It is only after that we’ll be able to reply to the invitation.”
He said that Russia could pay the billion dollars being asked for permanent membership “from the Russian assets frozen under the previous American administration.”
He added that the assets could also be used “to reconstruct the territories damaged by the hostilities, after the conclusion of a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.”
Invites were sent to dozens of world leaders with a request for $1 billion for a permanent seat on the board.
Although originally meant to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not seem to limit its role to the Palestinian coastal enclave and appears to want to rival the United Nations, drawing the ire of some US allies including France.
