Top Putin Ally Threatens To Send Weapons to North Korea If South Aids Ukraine

Here’s a suggestion by a top Russian official for wreaking vengeance on South Korea in case the South really does begin shipping weapons for Ukrainian forces: How about arming North Korea with Russian weapons?That’s the brainchild of the deputy director of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev. What would “the inhabitants” of South Korea say, he asked rhetorically, “when they see the latest samples of Russian weapons from their closest neighbors, our partners” from North Korea?Mr. Medvedev, who once served as Russia’s president, made the comment in response to a hint by President Yoon of South Korea in an interview with Reuters that the South could do away with its policy of not arming a country at war.“It might be difficult for us to insist only on humanitarian or financial support,” Mr. Yoon was quoted as saying, in the event of “a situation the international community cannot condone,” such as “any large-scale attack on civilians, massacre, or serious violation of the laws of war.”Mr. Yoon’s remark appeared to suggest that he might tell President Biden, when he sees him at Washington next Wednesday, that he’s ready to align with NATO in its response to the Russian invasion.It was difficult, though, to know what to make of Mr. Medvedev’s comment considering that Russian forces are reportedly running low on weapons — and North Korea may be shipping ammunition, including artillery shells, to Russia.Mr. Medvedev, known to be one of Mr. Putin’s closest soulmates in the Russian hierarchy, suggested Russia had the perfect “quid pro quo” for North Korea: How about paying for ammunition by shipping food that’s desperately needed by the poverty-stricken North Koreans?Russia and South Korea, though, were inclined to tone down the implications of the comments on both sides.Reuters quoted a Russian spokesman as calling Mr. Yoon’s comment “unfortunate” and “unfriendly” but “not cardinally new.” For South Korea to ship arms to Ukraine, the spokesman said, would “mean a certain stage of involvement in this conflict.”South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean official as saying the Russian spokesman was “commenting on something that isn’t happening.”South Korea is not sending arms to Ukraine, the official said, because of the need for “maintaining stability in Russian-South Korean relations while supporting the international community’s policy on protecting the freedom of Ukrainian people.” Mr. Yoon’s remarks, he added, reflected “common sense” — nothing else.

Top Putin Ally Threatens To Send Weapons to North Korea If South Aids Ukraine

Top Putin Ally Threatens To Send Weapons to North Korea If South Aids Ukraine

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