Zelenskyy: Ukraine will have to fight in Europe against North Korea

The deployment of several thousand North Korean troops in the Russo-Ukrainian War signals a dangerous new phase of the war, testing Western resolve to support Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Oct 27, 2024 - 02:00

Zelenskyy: Ukraine will have to fight in Europe against North Korea

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on partners to put more pressure on Russia and support his country more in the wake of the North Korean military’s likely entry into the war against Ukraine in the coming days.

This development marks an unprecedented escalation in Russia’s war against Ukraine, as North Korea’s likely entry would represent the first direct involvement of an Asian military power in a European conflict in modern times. The deployment of several thousand North Korean troops to Russia’s Kursk Oblast not only violates multiple UN resolutions but also signals a dangerous new phase of international conflict, potentially reshaping global military alliances and testing Western resolve to support Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

As announced by Zelenskyy in his evening address, it seems that Ukraine will be forced to fight against North Korea in Europe.

“Each such day of war proves that Moscow is determined to continue aggression. They don’t want anything else there. And that is why they are trying to increase their defense production, and that is by circumventing sanctions. And that is why they are increasingly taking North Korea as an ally,” Zelenskyy said.

”And any day now their soldiers may be on the battlefield against Ukraine. Ukraine will be forced to actually fight against North Korea in Europe,” the Ukrainian head of state noted.

Zelenskyy added that ”these are conditions in which the absence of stronger decisions by partners in support of Ukraine only encourages Putin to invest further in terror.”

The President of Ukraine once again cited his Victory Plan as a way of stopping the war at this moment in time.

”The world can stop the war from unfolding. Abstractions and words are not enough for this – concrete steps are needed. We have given all such steps in the Victory Plan. The steps that will prevent the perpetrators of the war from becoming even more aggressive. We expect the necessary greater pressure on Russia. We expect more support for Ukraine. And it will be fair,” Zelenskyy urged.

Zelenskyy announced that the next week would be a time of “very active work with partners to support our soldiers at the front and for the sake of our strategy to force Russia to end the war.”

“We are preparing important signals of support,” the President of Ukraine said.

Earlier in October, The New York Times wrote that North Korea has deployed several thousand troops to Russia’s Kursk Oblast, according to Ukrainian and American officials who spoke to the outlet. The soldiers, reportedly from an elite Korean People’s Army unit, are positioned to join a Russian counteroffensive against Ukrainian forces that have held territory in the region since August 2024.

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