Military interaction with North Korea does not violate international law: Russian UN envoy | Russia-Ukraine war News

Russia’s military interaction with North Korea does not violate international law, Russia’s representative to the United Nations told the UN Security Council, calling reports that North Korean troops are on the front lines of the war against Ukraine “blatant lies.”

“I would like to emphasize that Russia’s interaction with North Korea in military and other fields complies with international law and is not a violation of this situation. It does not target third countries,” Vasily Nebenzya said at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, using the abbreviation for the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

This came on the same day that US and South Korean defense chiefs called on North Korea to withdraw its troops from Russia; Washington said about 10,000 of these soldiers were deployed for possible use against Ukrainian forces.

“I call on them to withdraw their troops from Russia,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, speaking at the Pentagon alongside his South Korean counterpart Kim Yong-hyun, who demanded the “immediate withdrawal” of Pyongyang’s forces.

Austin said the United States “will continue to work with our allies and partners to deter Russia from using these troops in war,” but warned that Moscow was likely to do so as well.

The Pentagon said the other day that a “small number” of North Korean troops had been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have been carrying out a ground offensive since August.

Speaking at the UNSC meeting, Russian Nebenzya said: “These statements about the North Korean soldiers on our front should not surprise anyone, because these are all blatant lies and they are trying to distract attention.”

He later added: “Even if everything our Western colleagues say about cooperation between Russia and North Korea is true, why are the United States and its allies trying to impose the flawed logic that everyone has these rights? and help him mobilize his intelligence, and don’t Russia and its allies have the right to do something similar?

North Korea’s UN Ambassador Kim Song told the UNSC that North Korea and Russia “have the right to develop bilateral relations in all fields.”

He added that the biggest threat to international peace and security right now is the anti-peace actions of the United States and its allies.

Russia and North Korea strengthened their political and military alliance during the Ukraine conflict. Both are under sanctions: Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons program, Moscow for its war against Kiev. North Korea’s move to tighten relations with Russia has triggered alarms around the world.

Main concerns

Austin said officials at the Pentagon are discussing what to do about the troop deployment, which he said has the potential to expand or prolong the conflict in Ukraine. Asked whether this could encourage other nations to become more directly involved in the conflict, he acknowledged that it “might encourage others to take action” but did not elaborate.

South Korea’s Kim said he did not believe the deployment would trigger war on the Korean Peninsula, but it could increase security threats between the two countries.

Ukraine’s UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the UNSC that Russia’s moves with North Korea are “another step taken by Moscow to further escalate its war against Ukraine.”

“Improving the interoperability of the Russian and North Korean militaries poses a threat to Europe, the Korean peninsula, its neighbors and beyond,” he added.

A major concern is what North Korea will receive in return for providing troops. But officials have yet to publicly say what Pyongyang might have demanded or what Moscow has offered.

In exchange for these forces, North Korea likely aims to receive military technologies ranging from surveillance satellites to submarines, as well as possible security guarantees from Moscow, experts said.

A Ukrainian official told the Associated Press news agency that North Korean troops are currently deployed 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Ukraine’s border with Russia. The official was not authorized to release the information publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

At the UNSC meeting, Kyslytsya claimed that some 12,000 North Korean troops were deployed at five training sites of the Russian Armed Forces. He added that between October 23 and 28, at least seven planes carrying some 2,100 soldiers flew from the Eastern Military District to Russia’s border with Ukraine.

North Korea has also supplied munitions to Russia, and earlier this month the White House released footage of it saying North Korea had shipped 1,000 containers of military equipment there by rail.

The fight continues

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine exchanged multiple drone strikes on Wednesday.

Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said in a statement on Telegram that the Russian-guided bomb hit the fourth floor of a high-rise apartment building in Kharkiv, causing casualties.

Earlier, the Ukrainian air force said that Russia launched 62 unmanned aerial vehicles and one missile during the night, 33 of which were intercepted and 25 were blocked. The attack injured nine people in Kiev, according to the city government.

Officials said Russian attacks also targeted other parts of Ukraine, killing at least four people and wounding about 30 people in the last 24 hours.

At the same time, Russian forces continue their slow-moving offensive in eastern Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the capture of the village of Kruhlyakivka in the Kharkiv region and announced that its air defense shot down 25 Ukrainian drones in various regions in the west and southwest of the country.

The new attacks came as North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui traveled to Russia for talks that South Korea’s spy agency said could include talks about sending additional troops to Russia.