The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said on Friday that the West have not responded in an adequate manner to North Korea joining Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
For the first time in history there is North Korean forces to fight against a European country wearing Russian uniforms.
In an interview with the South Korean television channel KBS President Zelensky said that Putin is “testing the reaction of the West, of NATO states” and South Korea’s response.
Zelensky said, “I am surprised by China’s silence. I am not saying that China is on our side, but it is one of the guarantors of security in your region, at least that’s what we thought.”
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President Zelensky added, “and there is this silence now” from the Western allies.
He continued, “I think, Japan, South Korea – you are both strong countries – should reach out to China and have China as an ally in terms of what North Korea is doing now.”
“North Korea is now dragging your whole region into a war,” the Ukrainian leader warned.
The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press conference there are around 8,000 North Korean troops which been deployed in the Kursk region to fight Ukrainian forces.
Blinken said that they are expecting fighting to break out between Ukraine and North Korean soldiers to break out in “in the coming days.”
He added, “One of the reasons that Russia is turning to these North Korean troops is that it’s desperate. (Vladimir) Putin has been throwing more and more Russians into a meat grinder of his own making in Ukraine.
“Now he’s turning to North Korean troops, and that is a clear sign of weakness.”
The Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin seeing North Korean troops readying to fight for Putin “just underscores how badly Putin’s war has gone.”
“This 10,000 won’t come close to replacing the numbers that the Russians have lost.”
He warned, “Make no mistake, if these North Korean troops engage in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine, they would make themselves legitimate military targets.”
