Does Putin support North Korea’s nuclear program in exchange for troops?

NATO has accused Russia of supporting North Korea’s nuclear program. “In return for troops and weapons, Russia supports North Korea in its missile and nuclear programs,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday after a two-day meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Brussels. Moscow is violating UN sanctions. According to Rutte, the development could destabilize the Korean peninsula and even threaten the USA.

Russia has gathered around 50,000 soldiers near Kursk, including around 10,000 North Korean fighters. With the help of these forces, Moscow wants to recapture the areas that Ukrainian troops have held under their control since a surprise advance in August.

The foreign ministers of the 32 NATO countries strongly condemned the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea after Rutte’s words. There is a risk that the regime in Pyongyang will direct the missiles against regional partners such as South Korea and Japan, against Europe and even against the United States, the Dutchman warned. NATO had already confirmed the deployment of North Korean soldiers on the Russian border with Ukraine weeks ago.

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticized on Sunday that if North Korea sends soldiers and weapons against Ukraine while Russia supports North Korea’s nuclear program, “then it endangers peace here and also in the Indo-Pacific.” Russia’s brutal war of aggression directly threatens peace.

NATO Secretary General Rutte criticizes Putin for having no interest in ending the war in Ukraine. “Russia’s aggression shows no signs of abating. On the contrary: Putin is increasing his rhetoric and continuing to act recklessly,” Rutte said in a press conference at a two-day NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels. As examples, he cited the deployment of North Korean soldiers and the firing of newly developed missiles into Ukraine.