Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has again lashed out at his Western backers for not supporting long-range strikes on Russian territory with NATO missiles, which he believes could be used to target North Korean troops inside Russia.
In a Telegram post on Friday night, Zelensky claimed Ukraine knew where North Korean troops were gathering in Russia. “Now we see every site where Russia is accumulating these soldiers from North Korea on its territory – all their camps,” The Ukrainian leader wrote.
Zelensky continued, “We could strike preemptively if we had this opportunity – to strike at a sufficiently long range. And it depends on the partners. But instead of such necessary long-range, America is watching, Britain is watching, Germany is watching. Everyone is just waiting for the North Korean military to start attacking Ukrainians as well.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made clear that long-range strikes inside Russian territory would risk nuclear war, and the US appears to have gotten the message, at least for now. Zelensky keeps pushing for the escalation as part of his so-called “Victory Plan,” which has received little support from Western governments.
Zelensky has been fuming over the lack of support for long-range strikes now that the US has said it believes about 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia and have moved West to the Kursk Oblast, where they could join the fighting. For their part, Russia and North Korea have not confirmed the deployments, but when asked about the US claims in recent days, officials from both countries have pointed to the new military agreement that Moscow and Pyongyang signed earlier this year, which includes a mutual defense clause.
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui was in Moscow on Friday and said North Korea would stand with Russia until it wins its war. “We will always stand firmly by our Russian comrades until victory day,” Choe said.
