Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused North Korea of sending not only weapons but also soldiers to help Russia in its war against Ukraine.
“We see an increasing alliance between Russia and regimes like North Korea,” Zelenskyy said in his video address on Sunday night. “This is no longer just about transferring weapons. It is actually about transferring people from North Korea to the occupying military forces.”
He said Ukraine and its allies needed to evolve their response in light of Russia’s deepening alliances and reiterated his call for increased military support to prevent a bigger war.
“The front line needs more support,” he said. “When we talk about giving Ukraine greater long-range capabilities and more decisive supplies for our forces, it’s not just a list of military equipment. It’s about increasing the pressure on the aggressor – pressure that will be stronger than what Russia can handle. And it’s about preventing an even larger war.”
Zelenskyy’s pleas to Ukraine’s allies to allow it to use longer-range missiles to attack military targets deep inside Russia and reduce its capacity for war have so far failed.
He said he would continue to try and secure that approval.
“True peace can only be achieved through strength and the entire next week will be dedicated to working with our partners for the sake of such strength, for the sake of true peace,” he said.
Western leaders were due to meet on the issue in Germany last week, but United States President Joe Biden delayed his trip as Hurricane Milton bore down on Florida.
He is now expected to travel to Germany this week with the war in Ukraine high on the agenda.
South Korea’s Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun said last week that there was a “high possibility” of North Korea sending soldiers to help Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine.
He also said that it was “highly likely” that reports that North Korean officers had been killed in a Ukrainian attack on Russian-occupied territory were true.
Russia dismissed the comments as “fake news”.
Relations between North Korea and Russia have deepened since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un made a rare visit outside his country in September 2023, travelling by train to eastern Russia where he held talks with President Vladimir Putin and visited military bases and arms factories.
Putin, meanwhile, travelled to Pyongyang in June on his first visit to the country in 24 years with Kim promising his “full support and solidarity” for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The US, South Korea and Ukraine have all accused North Korea of sending weapons to Russia for use in the war.
In April, United Nations sanctions monitors said debris from a missile that hit Kharkiv on January 2 was from a North Korean Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile.
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