North Korean troops in Russia would be sign of Putin’s ‘desperation’, says UK
The UK and Germany expressed concern that the involvement of North Korea could trigger wider global tensions.
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
The likely presence of North Korean troops in Russia is a sign of President Vladimir Putin’s “desperation” and could trigger a wider global conflict, the UK and German defence ministers warned.
Defence Secretary John Healey said it was “highly likely” there were North Korean troops in Russia but it was not yet clear whether they were being sent to the front line of the war with Ukraine.
He said that as well as being an escalation of the war in Europe, there was also an “indivisible link” with tensions in the Korean peninsula and the wider Pacific region.
German defence minister Boris Pistorius said “we are checking the implications with regard to international law” of the development but “it is a kind of escalation”.
He said it was not clear how many troops were involved – estimates range from 1,500 to 12,000 – or what kind of personnel they were.
At a joint press conference with Mr Healey in London, Mr Pistorius warned: “International conflicts are approaching very rapidly.
“North Korea delivering, providing ammunition, weapons to Russia.
“Russia providing… technical systems and oil and gas and so on, does have an impact, for example, for the security of South Korea.
“North Korean actions have an impact on the North Korean and Chinese relationship.”
That had a knock-on effect for relationships between China, Russia and India, he suggested.
I see this as a sign of desperation, as well as a shocking escalation on North Korea's part, desperation from Putin that he's having to reach out and develop a growing alliance of aggression with a country like North Korea
“So we see international conflicts are getting more and more closer to each other and linked to each other,” Mr Pistorius said, which made it harder to de-escalate tensions and conflicts.
Mr Healey said both the UK and Germany condemned the move by Pyongyang as a “potential escalation”.
The Defence Secretary said: “It looks highly likely that North Korean troops have been deployed into Russia.
“It is certainly not clear yet that they’ve been deployed to the battlefront.
“We know that North Korea have been providing weapons and ammunition to Russia.
“I see this as a sign of desperation, as well as a shocking escalation on North Korea’s part, desperation from Putin that he’s having to reach out and develop a growing alliance of aggression with a country like North Korea.”
He added: “This is not just a concern about the potential for an escalation of conflict in Europe.
“There is an indivisible link with security concerns in the Indo-Pacific as well.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.