Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Kyiv, October 3, 2024 (AP)
EA-Times Radio Special: Ukraine, NATO, and A “German Parallel” to End Russia’s Invasion?
Wednesday’s Coverage: Kyiv’s Prosecutor General Resigns Over Draft-Dodging Scandal
Map: Institute for the Study of War
agen
UPDATE 1714 GMT:
Ukraine military intelligence says the first North Korean soldiers have deployed alongside Russian forces.
The HUR agency said the North Koreans were seen on the frontline in the Kursk region in western Russia, part of which has been controlled by Ukraine since a cross-border incursion on August 6.
The agency said the North Koreans are receiving training at five military training grounds in eastern Russia. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-bek Yevkurov has been appointed to supervise the training and adaptation of the North Korean forces, who have been given “a few weeks” to adjust.
Asked on Thursday about the deployment, Vladimir Putin avoided a direct answer.
A journalist from the US outlet NBC pointed to pictures showing the transfer of North Korean troops to Russian territory.
Putin replied, “Photos are a serious matter. If there are photos, it means they reflect something.” He emphasized that cooperation between Russia and North Korea is an internal matter between the two countries.
UPDATE 1400 GMT:
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has commented further on reports of North Korean troops supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (see 0805 GMT).
Speaking alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda, Yoon said:
If North Korea dispatches special forces to the Ukraine war, we will provide support to Ukraine step by step and consider taking necessary measures for the security of the Korean Peninsula.
We have adhered to a principle of not directly supplying lethal weapons, but we can review this more flexibly depending on North Korean military activities.
Both Yoon and Duda denounced the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia as a “direct violation of the UN Charter and UN Security Council resolutions.”
Yoon added that South Korea “will never sit idle over this and take necessary measures step by step in coordination with the international community depending on the development of North Korea-Russia military cooperation”.
UPDATE 0903 GMT:
Five civilians were killed and 19 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine on Wednesday.
Two men, aged 40 and 73, were killed in the Zaporizhzhia region in south-central Ukraine. Two others were slain in the neighboring Kherson region, and one in the Kharkiv region in the northeast.
Seven were repelled by electronic counter-measures. Two flew back towards Russia and Belarus, and one remained in Ukrainian airspace.
Russian forces also fired cruise missiles.
No damage or casualties were reported.
UPDATE 0805 GMT:
The US says thousands of North Korean troops deploying in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are targets if they engage in combat.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said, “If they do deploy to fight against Ukraine, they’re fair game….The Ukrainian military will defend themselves against North Korean soldiers the same way they’re defending themselves against Russian soldiers.”
Reinforcing South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday that the US has evidence of the deployment.
Kirby said the US believes at least 3,000 North Korean troops are undergoing training in Russia. They were transported by ship in the first half of October from North Korea’s Wonsan region to the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, then they were taken to three military training sites in eastern Russia.
Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, has distanced himself from any use of the North Koreans by Russia.
Insisted the numerous reports are “rubbish”, Lukashenko said:
Knowing his character Putin would never try to persuade another country to involve its army in Russia’s special operation in Ukraine….[It] would be a step towards the escalation of the conflict if the armed forces of any country, even Belarus, were on the contact line.
He added that Kyiv’s allies could point to North Korean involvement “so NATO troops would be deployed to Ukraine”.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Seven of NATO’s 32 members are holding out against an invitation to Ukraine to join the bloc, according to “four anonymous US and NATO officials and diplomats”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz immediately said Berlin’s position “has not changed” after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy presented the request as the priority in the Victory Plan to defeat Russia’s 32-month invasion.
The Biden Administration also spread word of its reservations. US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith told Politico, “The alliance has not, to date, reached the point where it is prepared to offer membership or an invitation to Ukraine.”
One of the anonymous officials said, “Countries like Belgium, Slovenia, or Spain are hiding behind the US and Germany. They are reluctant.”
Another said that NATO members support Ukraine’s accession “in the abstract, but once it gets closer to materializing” they will begin opposing the idea publicly.
In addition, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is sympathetic to the Kremlin’s line, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is a long-time ally of Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskiy said earlier this week that France, whose Foreign Minister expressed support for the Victory Plan in a visit to Kyiv last weekend, and Italy are backing the invitation. The Baltic States and Poland have loudly endorsed the initiative.
Germany had softened its stance on Ukraine’s NATO membership, but remained “skeptical”, Zelenskiy said.
The President added, “The US will have an impact on this… We believe that they are consolidating their thoughts on NATO and this has an impact on, for example, Hungary and Slovakia.”