Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday (October 17, 2024) that his government has intelligence that 10,000 North Korean soldiers are being prepared to join the Russian army fighting against his own country, warning that a third nation joining the hostilities would turn the conflict into a “world war”.
Mr. Zelensky did not elaborate on the claim, which came a day after U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Washington and its allies supported North Korea’s military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Concerned about, but could not confirm, the Ukrainian troops’ claim. Was sent to fight for Moscow.
“From our intelligence we have information that North Korea has sent strategic personnel and officers to Ukraine,” Zelensky told reporters at NATO headquarters. “They are preparing 10,000 troops on their own soil, but they have not already transferred them to Ukraine or Russia.”
Earlier, he had warned that any North Korean involvement would be “the first step toward world war.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the allies have “no evidence that North Korean troops were involved in the fighting. But we know that North Korea is supporting Russia in a number of ways, from arms supplies, technical supplies “Innovation, to support them.” War effort. And that’s extremely worrying.”
The Ukrainian leader’s comments raised the stakes for his Western allies as he met with EU leaders and then-NATO defense ministers in Brussels to discuss his “victory plan” to end the country’s devastating war with Russia. met up with.
Key points of the plan include an invitation to Ukraine to join NATO and permission to use Western-supplied long-range missiles to attack military targets inside Russia, steps that have so far been met with reluctance by Kiev’s allies. has been completed with.
“Ukraine really deserves to one day become the 33rd NATO member, and we must do everything to ensure that,” Mr. Zelensky said in an appeal at the alliance’s headquarters. “Ukrainians have shown that we can defend shared values, and we are standing up to Russia, the biggest threat to Europe and global peace.”
He told EU leaders that if his plan was followed “we could end this war before next year”. Zelensky told reporters the plan aimed to “strengthen Ukraine” and pave the way for a diplomatic solution to end the conflict in eastern Europe.
“This plan does not depend on Russian will, only on the will of our partners,” he said.
In a statement after their talks with Mr Zelensky, EU leaders called for “expediting military support and its delivery, in particular air defense systems, ammunition and missiles” to protect Ukraine’s population and energy infrastructure. ” Called.
“Russia must not prevail,” the statement said.
The EU is a key supporter of Ukraine, a candidate member of the 27-nation bloc, as it fights Russia’s aggression that began 2 1/2 years ago.
Mr Zelensky outlined the five-point plan, which has been presented privately to key allies including the United States, in Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday without disclosing classified elements.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is widely seen as having the warmest relationship of any EU leader with Russian President Vladimir Putin, called Zelensky’s plan “more than appalling” in a Facebook post. . He said he would urge key EU powers France and Germany to “start negotiations with Russia as soon as possible to find a way out of this situation.”
Rutte said Kiev is “absolutely confident that the 32 allies will come together to ensure that, collectively, we will do whatever is necessary to ensure that Ukraine prevails, that Putin does not get his way.” ” He reiterated that Ukraine has a place in the ranks of NATO, but did not say when it might join.
Mr Zelensky told EU leaders that their troops should keep fighting Russian forces in Ukraine “as well as bring the war back to Russia so that Russians feel what war is and they start hating Putin for it.” Do it.”
Mr Zelensky said he needed to “push some partners forward” on the issue. “And I think only with unity in the EU can we move forward and not just move EU leaders forward, we can move other leaders forward as well.”
Thursday’s talks in Brussels come as Ukrainian troops struggle to hold off better-equipped Russian forces, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region where they are being slowly pushed back. Kiev is surviving with Western help, but Ukraine says it is happening too slowly.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda criticized slow Western decision-making on Ukraine and said that “it would be a big mistake to think that our hesitation is the best way to de-escalate tensions.”
At their summit in Washington in July, the 32 NATO members declared Ukraine on an “irreversible” path to membership.
But for now, NATO is in a holding pattern. Its largest and most powerful member, the United States, is facing a presidential election. European allies expect there will be little movement on Ukraine until a new president takes office in January.
Furthermore, the United States and European heavyweight Germany are deeply concerned about being dragged into a broader war with nuclear-armed Russia, and they lead a group of countries that want Ukraine to join NATO until the conflict ends. As opposed to allowing that to happen.
published – October 18, 2024 11:02 am IST