If Putin involves North Korean troops, it would be step towards escalation – Belarusian leader
Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, has said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would never involve North Korean troops in the war against Ukraine, as this would mean an escalation and could lead to the deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine.
Source: Lukashenko in an interview with the BBC‘s Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg
Quote: "Rubbish [referring to reports of North Korean troops being involved in the war – ed.] Knowing his character Putin would never try to persuade another country to involve its army in Russia’s special operation [war] in Ukraine."
Details: When asked by Rosenberg what would happen if the information about the involvement of North Korean troops was confirmed, Lukashenko said: "It would be a step towards the escalation of the conflict if the armed forces of any country, even Belarus, were on the contact line. Even if we got involved in the war this would be a path to escalation. Why? Because you, the Anglo-Saxons, would immediately say that another country had got involved on one side... so NATO troops would be deployed to Ukraine."
He also claimed that Putin had never requested Belarusian troops to support the Kremlin's war in Ukraine.
Background:
- On 8 October, the South Korean Ministry of Defence said that North Korea was likely to send some of its regular armed forces to Ukraine in support of Russia.
- On 13 October, Zelenskyy said that North Korea was supplying Russia not only with weapons but also with personnel for its military forces, and called on partners to increase their support for Ukraine. On 14 October, Zelenskyy announced that North Korea had essentially joined the war. On 17 October, Zelenskyy stressed that Russia intends to involve about 10,000 soldiers from North Korea in the war against Ukraine.
- On 18 October, Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, confirmed that about 11,000 North Korean infantrymen were currently undergoing training in Russia’s east. They will be ready to take part in combat actions against Ukraine as early as 1 November. Ukrainian intelligence expected the arrival of the first North Korean troops on the Kursk front on 23 October.
- On 23 October, South Korean intelligence reported that North Korea had sent 3,000 troops to Russia to support the occupation forces in the war against Ukraine and was also trying to isolate the families of selected soldiers in a certain place to prevent information from spreading.
- The first North Korean military units that had undergone training at training grounds in eastern Russia had arrived in the war zone. They were spotted in Russia's Kursk Oblast, where Ukrainian forces are conducting an operation, on 23 October.
- On 24 October, Russian leader Vladimir Putin commented for the first time on reports that North Korean troops were being sent to Russia to take part in the war against Ukraine.
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