Sending military units from North Korea to the front in <a href="http://www.time.news/mega-storm-hits-southern-russia-and-ukraine/" title="“Mega storm” hits southern Russia and Ukraine“>Ukraine would be a sign of Russia’s desperation more than two and a half years after the start of the Russian invasion of the neighboring country, Finnish President Alexander Stubb told Reuters in Berlin today.
He is in the German capital on the occasion of the celebrations and meetings that began yesterday for the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Nordic Diplomatic Corps there, which houses the embassies of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland.
Representatives of Ukraine and South Korea have accused North Korea of mobilizing thousands of troops to help the Russian army in Ukraine. Last week, South Korean intelligence announced that North Korea had sent 1,500 members of its special forces for training and acclimatization at a military base in the Russian Far East, and that they would most likely join the fighting in Ukraine on Moscow’s side.
The Kremlin declined to directly answer the question of whether North Korean soldiers would fight on Russia’s side in Ukraine.
“We see how desperate Russia really is,” Stubb said in Berlin. “Her allies in the world are not that many. She relies on Iran’s weapons, she relies on North Korea’s soldiers. How much worse can it get?” he added.
The deployment of military units from North Korea in the ranks of the Russian army in Ukraine would represent an “escalation” of the conflict, noted the Finnish head of state. His country, which borders Russia for 1,340 kilometers, joined NATO in the spring of last year, making a historic shift in its position of neutrality over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, BTA writes.
Stubb, who is on a state visit to China from October 28 to 31, announced that he would tell Chinese President Xi Jinping that no peace agreement could be reached without Ukraine’s participation. He will urge China not to provide assistance to Russia in any way, “especially through raw materials and dual-use products that can be used in weapons production.”