Russian President Vladimir Putin has met North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui at the Kremlin, as Ukraine warned North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region could be sent into combat.
In a video released by the Kremlin of Putin greeting Choe on Monday, the Russian leader told the official that she had visited on Russia’s National Unity Day, a public holiday.
Choe expressed “sincere, warm, comradely greetings” from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Monday that as many as 10,000 North Korean soldiers were in Russia’s Kursk region and preparing to join Moscow’s fight against Ukraine in the coming days.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that according to Ukrainian intelligence, 11,000 North Korean troops had reached the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops started a sudden incursion in August.
“We see an increase in North Koreans and no increase in the reaction of our partners,” Zelenskyy said.
Putin has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Korean troops in the country. He briefly alluded to the military situation in Kursk when he met youth volunteers on Monday and said, “When the enemy is cleaned out from the region, there will be lots of work for you to do.”
In Kyiv, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said he had discussed with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock the “need for decisive action” in response to North Korean involvement in the war in Ukraine.
“We call on Europe to realise that North Korean troops are now waging an aggressive war in Europe against a sovereign European state. This proves once again that while the West is afraid and hesitates, Russia is acting and going for escalation,” Sybiha said.
Baerbock expressed “rock-solid” support for Ukraine. “Right here, right now. We stand firmly by your side as long as you need us,” she said.
Baerbock also announced that Germany would give Ukraine 200 million euros ($218 million) in emergency aid for its third winter at war.
At the United Nations Security Council, the United States accused Russia and China of “shamelessly protecting” and emboldening North Korea to further violate UN sanctions.
In Seoul, South Korea and the European Union jointly condemned North Korea’s “unlawful arms transfers to the Russian Federation for its use in attacking Ukraine” and demanded that it withdraw its troops.
North Korea’s Choe has been in Russia for almost a week, having arrived in the far eastern port of Vladivostok last Tuesday on her second trip to the country in six weeks.
Last Friday, Choe told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that their countries enjoyed relations of “invincible military comradeship” and that North Korea would stand alongside Russia “until the day of victory” in Ukraine.
The Kremlin had said last week that there were no plans for Putin to meet Choe.
The US and South Korea say North Korea has shipped ballistic missiles, anti-tank rockets and millions of rounds of ammunition for Russia to use against Ukraine. Moscow and Pyongyang have denied weapons transfers.