Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he “doesn’t rule out” the possibility of sending weapons to North Korea, while insisting that Seoul’s arms delivery to Ukraine was a “very grave mistake.”
Earlier in the month, Putin had already threatened to send weapons to third countries in response to Western arms deliveries to Ukraine and some countries’ authorization of Kiev’s use against military targets on Russian borders.
“We reserve the right to supply weapons to the rest of the world, taking into account our agreements with North Korea, and I do not exclude that possibility,” Putin told reporters during his visit to Vietnam.
Putin warned South Korea after Seoul announced it would “reconsider” its policy of banning arms supplies to Ukraine in reaction to Wednesday’s signing of a defense pact between North Korea and Russia.
“We plan to review the issue of arms support for Ukraine,” South Korean National Security Council (CSN) Director Song Ho-jin said this Thursday, as quoted by Spanish agency Europa Press.
“It is a very grave mistake to supply dangerous weapons to a war zone in Ukraine. I hope this will not happen. If it does, we will have to make the right decision that will not please the South Korean leaders,” Putin said in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.
The Russian president assured Seoul that there was “no reason to worry” about the agreement between Pyongyang and Moscow, as it would only apply “in the event of aggression against one of the signatories”.
“There is no reason to be afraid of our cooperation in this area,” the Russian leader said, and confirmed that Russia was not asking for North Korea’s direct military involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
“We didn’t ask anybody, nobody suggested it to us,” he said.
Putin has criticized NATO’s expansion into Asia as a “deterrent system” is being created on the continent.
“NATO is establishing a permanent presence in Asia. This is a threat to all countries in the region, including Russia. We are obliged to react and we will do so”, he assured.
After a two-day visit to North Korea, Putin is visiting Vietnam, where a dozen cooperation agreements have already been signed in energy, science and education matters.