President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized the West’s lack of response to the presence of North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region.
In an interview with the South Korean TV channel KBS yesterday Zelensky said North Korean soldiers have not yet taken part in combat but he expects they will and that this would happen in “days, not months.”
Regarding the reaction to the deployment of North Korean troops, Zelensky said, according to Reuters: “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.”
The direct tone of his comments points to mounting frustration over the extent of support for Kyiv from its allies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to NATO Defense Ministers in Belgium on October 17, 2024. Zelensky has criticized the lack of response to the deployment of North Korean troops in Russia.
Virginia Mayo/Associated Press
Newsweek reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Russian Federation for comment via email.
On Thursday the Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood’s said during a UN Security Council meeting that 8,000 North Korean troops have reportedly been stationed in Kursk Oblast, which borders Ukraine.
The Russian representative did not confirm or deny this.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made similar predictions to Zelensky regarding the North Korean troops’ participation in combat and said: “We’ve not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we would expect that to happen in the coming days.”
The Pentagon estimates that 10,000 DPRK troops have been sent to Russia to train for combat against Ukraine, which is a significant increase from a previous estimate of 3,000 troops.
Zelensky began warning allies about the deployment of North Korean forces on October 13 and has called for help from allies since.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, about his interview with the South Korean TV outlet, the Ukrainian president described the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia as “a war of two countries against one.”
In a thread of posts Zelensky reiterated his thoughts that Putin is “testing the West” and wrote that: “If the response is weak, we should expect the numbers of foreign soldiers on our soil to increase.”
Zelensky also specified that Ukraine “await[s] an official team from South Korea, as they have confirmed their plans to send specialists to Ukraine” and emphasized that “strong allies are essential” as “facing Russia and North Korea alone would be dangerous.”
In addition the Ukrainian president wrote about the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
“The next U.S. president may strengthen or weaken support for Ukraine. If that support weakens, Russia will seize more territory, it would prevent us from winning this war,” he said. “That is the reality. Our stance isn’t about territorial compromises but exploring potential diplomatic paths that rely on the U.S. maintaining its commitment. A genuine desire from the United States to end this war swiftly is crucial.”
Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.
