US State Department reacts to Putin's statements about possible arming of North Korea

Washington has called "incredibly disturbing" the statement by Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, who said he was not ruling out Russia sending weapons to North Korea.

Source: Matthew Miller, Spokesperson for the US Department of State

Details: During a trip to Vietnam after a state visit to Pyongyang, where Russia and North Korea signed a mutual defence agreement, Putin warned South Korea against sending weapons to Ukraine.

He also said that the prospect of Russia providing weapons to North Korea is a consequence of the West arming Kyiv.

The United States has expressed deep concern over Putin's threat to send weapons to Pyongyang, warning that such actions could destabilise the Korean Peninsula.

"It is incredibly concerning," Miller said.  

"It would destabilise the Korean Peninsula, of course, and potentially [...] depending on the type of weapons they provide, might violate UN Security Council resolutions that Russia itself has supported," he added. 

Miller stated that the United States would continue to work with allies in the region – South Korea, Japan and others – to respond to the threat posed by North Korea.

Background:

• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the agreement between Russia and the DPRK demonstrated the growing coherence between authoritarian states and underlined the importance of democracies speaking with one voice.
• The Biden administration said that Putin's meeting with Kim Jong Un demonstrated Moscow's desire to build a coalition with North Korea, Iran, Syria and, to some extent, China.
• The agreement signed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday obliges each side to provide immediate military assistance to the other in the event of armed aggression against one of them.

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