NATO’s Mark Rutte said the deployment of North Korean troops is a sign of “growing desperation” in the Kremlin after over 600,000 Russian forces have been killed or wounded in Ukraine.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Monday told a media briefing there were North Korean troops in Russia.
“Today, I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” Rutte told reporters. Ukrainian forces had launched launched in August a major offensive and captured territory in the southern Russian region.
The deployment of North Korean troops there represents a “significant escalation” in Pyongyang’s involvement in conflict and marks “a dangerous expansion of Russia’s war,” Rutte added.
“The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security,” Rutte said after NATO officials and diplomats received a briefing from a South Korean delegation.
Rutte also pointed to Russia’s battlefield losses and said this was a sign of “growing desperation” on the part of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Over 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Putin’s war and he is unable to sustain his assault on Ukraine without foreign support,” Rutte said.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov appeared to shrug off Rutte’s comments, noting a joint security pact last signed by Moscow and Pyongyang in June.
Lavrov stopped short of confirming North Korean soldiers were in Russia.