WASHINGTON The United States accuses them North Korea covertly send “significant numbers” of artillery shells to the RussiaMoscow during military support invasion of Ukraine.
Speaker of the National Security Council, John Kirbysaid on Wednesday the 2nd that the US believes so Pyongyang tried to make it appear as if the guns were being shipped to countries in the United States middle East and north of Africa, but the target would actually be Russian territory. Kirby declined to give an accurate estimate of the amount of weapons sent in support of the Russian effort.
“(North Korea) is secretly supplying (ammunitions to Russia, but) we are still monitoring this to see if shipments are actually coming in,” the spokesman said.
:quality(80)/cloudfrontuseast1.images.arcpublishing.com/estadao/3MLDQOTKE5EPBDBKPUHE3I4D7U.jpg "The US accuses North Korea of secretly sending weapons to Russia 3")
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday, April 2, condemned North Korea’s illegal shipment of arms to Russia. Photo: Saul Loeb/ AFP 26.11.2022
The spokesman added that the US has “an idea” of which country or countries is using Pyongyang as a “channel” to send the weapons, but did not specify as the government continues to analyze how to respond to the actions . The White House also did not specify the mode of transport or whether the US or other nations would seek to halt shipments to Russia.
“We don’t think they (the guns) are in such numbers that they are going to change the direction of this war or noticeably change the dynamics to the east or south,” said Kirby, where some of the heaviest fighting in Ukraine is taking place.
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The discovery comes after the Biden administration said in August that the Russian military had received hundreds of Iranianmade drones for use on the battlefield in Ukraine.
The Biden administration said Iran has also sent personnel to Russiancontrolled Crimea to provide technical assistance to operate the drones. Iranian officials have denied providing drones or other support to Russia.
North Korea is trying to cement ties with Russia as much of the West has turned its back on the country, blaming the United States for the Ukraine crisis and condemning the West’s “hegemonic policies” to justify Moscow’s military action in Eastern Europe.
The North Koreans have expressed an interest in sending construction workers to help rebuild Russianheld territories in eastern Ukraine.
North Korea’s ambassador in Moscow, meeting with envoys from two Russianbacked breakaway territories in Ukraine’s Donbass region, expressed optimism about cooperation in the “area of labor migration,” citing the easing of pandemic controls at North Korea’s borders.
In July, North Korea became the only nation alongside Russia and Syria to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts and continued to ally with Russia in the conflict in Ukraine./AP