TAIPEI, Taiwan – The United States will respond strongly to North Korea’s deployment of troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned after both the United States and South Korea confirmed that North Korean forces were engaged in combat against Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region.
America’s top diplomat made an emergency trip to Brussels for a meeting with his NATO and European Union counterparts to solidify U.S. President Joe Biden‘s foreign policy plans for Ukraine, days after former President Donald Trump won a second term in the White House.
“We had a very productive discussion today about our ongoing support for Ukraine in the face of an ongoing Russian aggression, as well this added element now of North Korean forces injected into the battle and now quite literally in combat, which demands, and will get, a firm response,” Blinken told media on Wednesday.
“We’re counting on European partners and others to strongly support Ukraine’s mobilization,” said Blinken, calling for Washington’s allies to step up.
He added that NATO countries must focus their efforts on “ensuring that Ukraine has the money, munitions and mobilized forces to fight effectively in 2025, or to be able to negotiate a peace from a position of strength.”
Blinken also said U.S. President Joe Biden was “committed to making sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and January 20,” when Trump, who has questioned U.S. support for Ukraine, takes office.
“The U.S. will adapt and adjust with the latest equipment it is sending,” he added, without providing details.
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Separately, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reiterated the crucial role played by China in helping Russia’s “war effort.”
On Tuesday, he said Russia’s growing economic and military cooperation with China, North Korea and Iran was a threat to Europe, the Indo-Pacific and North America.
China, one of North Korea’s few allies, faces pressure to act responsibly as the U.S. and its allies fear North Korean troop deployments could dangerously escalate the Ukraine conflict. The U.S. expressed concerns to China in October over North Korean and Russian “destabilizing” actions.
China has not commented on North Korea’s deployment except to say the development of relations between Russia and North Korea was solely for them to decide.
On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine was progressing “very rapidly and fully,” without addressing reports of North Korean involvement.
Russia has not commented on the presence of North Korean troops on its territory. At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council last week, Russia declined to answer questions from the U.S. about its deployment of North Koreans.
The U.S. confirmed on Tuesday that more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers had been sent to eastern Russia, saying most of them have moved to far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces.
South Korea’s main security agency also confirmed that the North Koreans were “already engaging in combat operations” against Ukraine in Kursk.
Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into Kursk on Aug. 6 and have captured more than two dozen settlements there.
Edited by Mike Firn.