Ukraine’s president said his country and its allies need to evolve their response given the deepening alliance with Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused North Korea of sending not only weapons but also soldiers to support Russia in its war against Ukraine.
“I see a growing alliance between Russia and regimes like North Korea,” Zelensky said in a video address Sunday night. “This is no longer just a transfer of weapons. It’s actually a transfer of people from North Korea to the occupying forces.”
He said Ukraine and its allies need to evolve their response in light of the deepening alliance with Russia, and renewed his call for increased military support to prevent a larger war.
“We need more support on the front lines,” he said. “When we talk about providing Ukraine with better long-range capabilities and more decisive materiel for our military, it’s not just a list of military equipment. It’s about increasing pressure on the aggressor, and that pressure is It will become more powerful than Russia can handle, and that is to prevent another major war.”
President Zelensky has appealed to Ukraine’s allies to allow him to use long-range missiles to attack military targets deep in Russia and reduce its war-fighting capabilities, but has so far failed. It ends in
He said he would continue to work to secure that approval.
“True peace can only be achieved through strength. Next week is dedicated to working with our partners for such strength and true peace.”
Western leaders were scheduled to meet on the issue in Germany last week, but US President Joe Biden postponed the visit after Hurricane Milton hit Florida.
He is scheduled to travel to Germany this week with the Ukraine war as his top priority.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said last week that there was a “high possibility” that North Korea would send soldiers to support Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine.
He also said reports that a North Korean officer was killed in a Ukrainian attack on Russian-occupied territory were “likely to be true.”
Russia dismissed the comments as “fake news”.
Relations between North Korea and Russia have deepened since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made an unusual overseas trip in September 2023, taking a train to eastern Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin and visit military bases and weapons factories.
Meanwhile, President Putin visited Pyongyang in June for the first time in 24 years, and Kim pledged Russia’s “full support and unity” in the war in Ukraine.
The United States, South Korea and Ukraine all accuse North Korea of sending weapons to Russia for use in the war.
The United Nations sanctions monitor said in April that the missile fragments that hit Kharkiv on January 2 were from North Korea’s Hwasong-11 ballistic missile.
