2024-01-10 10:33:19
This article was originally published in English
The European Union and the United States have denounced “in the strongest possible terms” North Korea for supplying ballistic missiles to Russia and supporting the war of aggression once morest Ukraine.
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“The transfer of these weapons increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, supports Russia’s war of aggression and undermines the global non-proliferation regime,” the two Western allies said in a statement released Wednesday morning.
The communiqué was co-signed by nearly 50 countries, including Japan, South Korea, Argentina, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom.
Provision of lethal equipment a “flagrant” violation of several UN Security Council resolutions “which Russia itself supported”, they noted. These resolutions were adopted in response to North Korea’s nuclear program and imposed a wide-ranging embargo banning the export and import of weapons from that country.
The coalition explicitly accuses Moscow of having fired ballistic missiles supplied by Pyongyang on two specific occasions: December 30 and January 2. These two days were marked by the largest airstrike launched by Russia once morest Ukraine since the start of the large-scale war in February 2022, which left more than 30 dead and hundreds injured.
These intensive bombings come as fighting on the ground is largely blocked due to difficult winter conditions and as kyiv implores Brussels and Washington to increase their support military and financierwithout much result so far.
The West has been closely monitoring potential cooperation between Russia and North Korea since meeting in September between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un. The recent attacks appear to confirm the worst fears and add a worrying new dimension to the war, which is approaching its two-year mark.
In stark warning, allies say partnership will bring Pyongyang “valuable technical and military information” and will have “security implications” for Europe, the Korean Peninsula, the Indo-Pacific region and the entire world.
“We further call on the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) to respond to the numerous and sincere offers to return to diplomacy, the only path to lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula”they said.
It is still unclear what North Korea might get in exchange of his help to the Kremlin. Previous media reports have suggested that the isolated autocracy was seeking to benefit from Russia’s technology, food supplies and humanitarian aid.
“We are closely monitoring what Russia provides to the DPRK in exchange for these arms exports,” specifies the press release.
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