Poland declines Ukraine's request for weapons purchased by Warsaw from South Korea

Polish President Andrzej Duda has denied the possibility of transferring weapons purchased from South Korea to Kyiv.

Source: Polish news portal RMF24, citing Duda speaking to reporters during his official visit to South Korea, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Duda was asked if the scenario is being considered when, if South Korea decides to transfer weapons to Ukraine, Poland would supply Ukraine with the arms it received from Seoul, and allies would replenish Poland's stockpiles at that time.

"There is no scenario in which we give someone the weapons we have recently bought for billions of zlotys from the pockets of our taxpayers. These weapons should serve the security and defence of the Republic of Poland," the Polish president stressed.

He added that Ukraine had requested a potential transfer of South Korean weapons to Kyiv from Warsaw, but Poland declined the request.

In response to reports that Pyongyang had dispatched several thousand soldiers to Russia to fight against Ukraine, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stated that the country might reconsider its ban on supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine.

However, Duda emphasised that even if Seoul agrees to transfer weapons to Ukraine, they will not come from the stockpiles allocated to Poland.

Background:

• On 24 October, the Polish president met with his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol. The politicians focused on economic and defence cooperation and condemned North Korea's sending troops to Russia to join the war against Ukraine as a threat to global security.
• South Korean intelligence reported that North Korea sent 3,000 troops to Russia to support the occupation forces in the war against Ukraine and is also trying to isolate the families of selected soldiers in a certain place to prevent information from spreading.
• Later, the White House confirmed the information about several thousand North Korean soldiers in Russia and stated that the DPRK military, if involved in a war against Ukraine, would be legitimate targets, just like the Russian military.
• On 25 October, Zelenskyy stated that, based on Ukrainian intelligence, Russia would send the first North Korean military units into battle on 27-28 October.

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