NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at press briefing at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium Oct. 28, 2024. (Credit: nato.int) 

By  Gary Raynaldo   – DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed Monday that North Korea has dispatched troops to Russia to help Moscow in its war with Ukraine. Rutte, speaking at a press briefing in Brussels, said North Korean military units have been deployed to Russia’s border with Ukraine in the Kursk region. Rutte said the deployment represents a “significant escalation” in North Korea’s involvement in the conflict and a dangerous expansion of the war.  “NATO calls on Russia and the DPRK to cease these actions immediately,” Rutte said. The move by Pyongyang “undermines peace on the Korean Peninsula and fuels the Russian war against Ukraine,” he added. 

Rutte said  Pyongyang has already supplied Moscow with millions of rounds of ammunition and ballistic missiles. “The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security,” he stated.

The NATO chief said the deployment of North Korean troops is a sign of the “growing desperation” of President Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s nearly three-year war with Ukraine. “Over 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Putin’s war, and he is unable to sustain his assault to Ukraine without foreign support.”