US ‘incredibly concerned’ over threat to supply weapons to North Korea after Asia tour
Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that Russia could supply weapons to North Korea is “incredibly concerning”, a senior US official has said,
days after #Putin and North Korea’s leader, #Kim Jong-un, signed a defence pact that
👉requires their countries to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked.
Matthew #Miller, a US state department spokesperson, said the provision of Russian weapons to Pyongyang
“would destabilise the Korean peninsula, of course, and potentially … depending on the type of weapons they provide … violate UN security council resolutions that Russia itself has supported”.
The US secretary of state, Antony #Blinken, and South Korea’s foreign ministry said the treaty between Russia and North Korea
posed a “serious threat” to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.
Blinken said the US would consider “various measures” in response to the pact, which elevated ties between the sanctions-hit states to their highest level since the cold war.
South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador to protest against the pact with North Korea, as border tensions continued to rise.
Seoul has also said it would
🔸consider providing arms to Ukraine, 🔸triggering an angry response from the Russian ambassador, Georgy #Zinoviev,
who said attempts to blackmail and threaten Russia were unacceptable, Russia’s Tass news agency reported.
In his meeting with Zinoviev on Friday, the South Korean vice-foreign minister, Kim Hong-kyun, condemned the treaty
and called on Russia to immediately halt military cooperation with North Korea.
Friction over shipments of weapons to both sides in the war in Ukraine has worsened this week,
amid ♦️speculation that Putin and Kim discussed additional supplies of North Korean missiles and ammunition ♦️
for use by Russian forces when they met in Pyongyang on Wednesday.
