Russia will give weapons to North Korea, the United States is deeply concerned – 2024-06-23 04:51:23

The US administration has expressed serious concern as Vladimir Putin talks about the possibility of sending weapons to North Korea. In that case, the United States fears that the stability of the entire region, including the Korean peninsula, may be endangered.

The Russian President visited North Korea and Vietnam to show his acceptance in the international arena in the face of Western pressure centered on the Ukraine war. He signed a defense deal on Wednesday to help North Korea, just as the Western world has collectively provided all kinds of aid to Ukraine.

Under that agreement, if one country is affected, the other country will come forward to help it. In Vietnam on Thursday (June 20), he went a step further, saying Russia could supply weapons to North Korea. In particular, he warned that South Korea supplying arms to Ukraine would be a huge mistake.

The US administration is concerned that Putin has mentioned such a possibility. US State Department spokesman Matthews Miller said such a move would endanger the stability of the entire Korean Peninsula. Even supplying North Korea with special weapons would violate UN Security Council resolutions.

Miller recalled that Russia, as a permanent member, also supported the resolution of the Security Council. It should be noted that Moscow recently vetoed a proposal in the Security Council to extend the period of the agency responsible for monitoring sanctions against North Korea.

Meanwhile, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said there was no reason to be surprised by Putin’s announcement despite concerns. Russia is now desperately seeking foreign aid. As a result, cooperation in the defense sector between Russia and North Korea has been increasing over the past few months, Kirby said.

He also said that China may also be concerned about such a move by Moscow. Because the US has been urging Beijing to increase pressure on North Korea. But increasing reliance on Russia could reduce China’s influence over North Korea. In particular, if North Korea resumes nuclear weapons tests, the stability of the entire region could be threatened, so that China’s interests could also be undermined, Kirby said.

North Korea is said to have supplied a lot of munitions and ballistic missiles to Russia to cover shortages in the Ukraine war. North Korea, which has been isolated for some time, is also hoping to receive military equipment from Russia. According to US officials, Pyongyang may seek materials or equipment from Russia to build warplanes, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missiles.

Source: AFP, Reuters

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