NATO has assured Ukraine of further assistance following the transfer of North Korean troops to Russia. A statement released Friday by the Council of 32 NATO countries said the allies “remain as determined as ever in supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to prevail.”
The goal is to enable Ukraine to build a military force capable of successfully countering Russian aggression. NATO is responding to Western intelligence findings that North Korea is now also supplying thousands of soldiers in support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
It is said to have already supplied large quantities of ammunition and ballistic missiles. Providing combat troops represents a dangerous escalation of support, the Western defense alliance now says.
Kiev says there have already been casualties in clashes between Ukrainian and North Korean soldiers in the Russian border area. “Yes, there have already been losses. That is a fact,” President Volodymyr Zelenksy said on Thursday, without giving details.
He said some of the 11,000 North Korean soldiers in the Russian border region of Kursk are involved in fighting against the Ukrainian army.