By Yuliia Dysa and Tom Balmforth
KYIV (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy blasted what he called his allies’ “zero” response to Russia’s deployment of North Korean troops for the war in Ukraine, saying on Thursday a weak reaction would encourage Russia’s Vladimir Putin to beef up the contingent.
The Ukrainian leader, in an interview with South Korea’s KBS television channel, said he believed Moscow was already trying to agree for North Korea to send engineering troops and a “large number of civilians” to work at Russian military plants.
“Putin is checking the reaction of the West … And I believe that after all these reactions, Putin will decide and increase the contingent … The reaction that is there today is nothing, it is zero,” Zelenskiy said.
He began publicly warning of North Korean involvement in the war on Oct. 13. Western allies have since described the move as a major escalation, but have not announced retaliatory measures or said they are preparing to implement any.
South Korea has offered intelligence assistance and wider cooperation on the matter, and it is considering sending a team of military monitors to Ukraine, according to South Korean officials.
In prepared remarks to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, Ukraine’s delegation named three North Korean generals it says are accompanying thousands of Korean People’s Army troops deployed to Russia in aid of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Russia has not denied the involvement of North Korean troops in the war. North Korea initially denied involvement, but has since defended the idea of deploying troops as being in line with international law.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood told the Security Council on Thursday that Washington had received information indicating that “right now” there are 8,000 North Korean troops in Russia’s southern Kursk region, which borders on northeastern Ukraine.
In his interview comments, Zelenskiy said he was surprised by the “silence” out of China, the world’s second economy, over the troop deployment.
Zelenskiy said that Ukraine had “clear information” that Russia had confirmed the deployment of the North Koreans directly to the West via intelligence channels.
“The Russian Federation discussed this issue with the West and confirmed that yes, there are military personnel from North Korea who will fight against Ukraine,” he said.
The direct tone of Zelenskiy’s rhetoric pointed to mounting Ukrainian frustration over the extent of Western support for Kyiv at a critical time in the war with Russia, with the clock counting down to Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election.
Russian troops have been slowly advancing for months in eastern Ukraine and Kyiv’s outgunned and outnumbered forces have struggled to find a way to hold them back.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa, writing by Tom Balmforth)
