White House claimed on Thursday (Jan 4) that North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missiles and missile launchers that were used in recent attacks on Ukraine. In a briefing, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “This is a significant and concerning escalation.”
“Our information indicates that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea recently provided Russia with ballistic missile launchers and several ballistic missiles,” said Kirby.
Kirby said that Russian forces launched at least one of the North Korean-supplied missiles on December 30, which landed in an open field in the Zaporizhzhia region.
He added that Moscow’s forces then fired “multiple” ballistic missiles into Ukraine as part of a mass aerial attack on January 2.
Kirby said that the United States and its allies will now take the matter to the UN Security Council, citing a violation of UN sanctions against North Korea. He told reporters that the United States will raise these arms deals at the UNSC alongside our allies and partners, and “we will demand that Russia be held accountable for yet again violating its international obligations”.
He added that Russia also wants to purchase close-range ballistic missiles from its ally Iran for use in its war in Ukraine. “Second, we will impose additional sanctions against those working to facilitate arms transfers between Russia and the DPRK and between Russia and Iran.”
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“Third, we will continue to release information to the public and expose these arms deals as we are doing today, because we will not allow countries to aid Russia’s war machine in secret,” he added.
“But here’s the bottom line: the most effective response to Russia’s horrific violence against the Ukrainian people is to continue to provide Ukraine with vital air defence capabilities and other types of military equipment. To do that, we need Congress to approve our supplemental funding request for Ukraine without delay,” Kirby said.
Russia recently launched some of its most intense strikes on Ukraine since the war began almost two years ago. Kyiv on Tuesday said that Russia had launched well over 300 attack drones and missiles of various kinds at cities across Ukraine since Friday.
Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on Ukraine-Russia war on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos
(With inputs from agencies)
