US says N/Korea deployment in Russian-Ukraine war demands response

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Wednesday, cautioned that the deployment of North Korean troops alongside Russian forces fighting on the Ukrainian border requires a firm response.

Blinken issued the warning when he spoke at the start of a day of Brussels talks with National Treaty Organisation (NATO) and European Union (EU) officials to immediately address ramping up support for Kyiv before Donald Trump reclaims the White House — potentially jeopardising future aid.

Speaking to reporters alongside NATO chief Mark Rutte, Blinken said they had discussed the fact that North Korean forces have been “injected into the battle, and now, quite literally, in combat which demands and will get a firm response.”

The US State Department confirmed yesterday that Pyongyang’s troops — whose entry into the conflict marks a potentially major escalation — have begun “engaging in combat operations” alongside Russian forces near the border with Ukraine.

A spokesman said that of the more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers sent to eastern Russia, “most of them have moved to the far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces.”

Rutte meanwhile emphasised that the crucial role played by China in helping Russia’s “war effort”, as well as Iranian weapons deliveries — paid for with Russian funds that were in turn helping Tehran to “destabilize the Middle East”.

Blinken was taking part in a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s decision-making body, before talks with European Union top diplomat Josep Borrell, his successor Kaja Kallas and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga.

His emergency trip comes as Trump’s election victory, coupled with a political crisis in Germany, heightens fears about the future of assistance for Ukraine at a key point in the fight against Russia’s invasion.

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Trump has in the past voiced admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and scoffed at the $175 billion the United States committed for Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022.

Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20, spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after winning re-election following a first stint as president between 2017 and 2021.

He has boasted he can end the war in a day, likely by forcing concessions from Ukraine, although his newly named national security advisor, Mike Waltz, said Trump may also pressure Putin.

The president-elect also had a phone call with Putin and discouraged an escalation by Russia. The Kremlin denied the report.

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