President Volodymyr Zelenskiy blasted what he called his allies’ “zero” response to Russia’s deployment of North Korean troops for the war in Ukraine, saying on Thursday a weak reaction would encourage Russia’s Vladimir Putin to beef up the contingent.
The Ukrainian leader, in an interview, said he believed Moscow was already trying to agree for North Korea to send engineering troops and a “large number of civilians” to work at Russian military plants.
“Putin is checking the reaction of the West … And I believe that after all these reactions, Putin will decide and increase the contingent … The reaction that is there today is nothing, it is zero,” Zelenskiy said.
In his interview comments, Zelenskiy said he was surprised by the “silence” out of China, the world’s second economy, over the troop deployment.
Zelenskiy said that Ukraine had “clear information” that Russia had confirmed the deployment of the North Koreans directly to the West via intelligence channels.
“The Russian Federation discussed this issue with the West and confirmed that yes, there are military personnel from North Korea who will fight against Ukraine,” he said.
He began publicly warning of North Korean involvement in the war on Oct. 13. Western allies have since described the move as a major escalation, but have not announced retaliatory measures or said they are preparing to implement any
Russia has not denied the involvement of North Korean troops in the war. North Korea initially denied involvement but has since defended the idea of deploying troops as being in line with international law.
