France has warned that North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine for Vladimir Putin is a serious escalation of the war.
On Saturday France and Ukraine’s Foreign Ministers said in a joint press conference North Korean troops fighting on European soil “is a big risk” as this could see the conflict “growing out of its current scale and borders.”
South Korea warned on Friday that North Korea is deploying four brigades totalling 12,000 soldiers to fight inside Ukraine.
France’s Jean-Noel Barrot, who has arrived in Kyiv will visit eastern Ukraine and Paris will finance two centres for the protection of children, The Strait Times reports.
There has been reports “from Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence agencies” that there has been “movement” of North Korean troops on Russian naval bases this month which “is alarming.”
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Speaking in Kyiv Brrot said, “It would be serious and push the conflict into a new stage, an additional escalatory stage.”
The French Foreign Minister said that North Korea fighting in Ukraine sends a clear signal that the Kremlin is struggling.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha warned that North Korean troops being inside Ukraine risks a “huge” escalation.
“This is a huge threat of further escalation of Russian aggression against Ukraine. There is a big risk of it growing out of its current scale and borders.”
The French Foreign Minister said that Paris is very open for Ukraine join NATO.
Reuters reported, “Regarding the invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, we are open to it and it’s a discussion that we are having with our partners,” The Strait Times wrote.
A “classified briefing” has been called as there is “urgency” as North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine crosses “red line for the US and NATO.”
The US House of Representatives has written to President Joe Biden calling for American intelligence agencies to advise over the details of North Korean troop movement.
The US House Intelligence Chairman Michael Turner warned that this will be “an extreme escalation” in the Ukrainian war and he has called for a “classified briefing” over the “broadening” of the war.
South Korea’s presidential office said in a statement, “The participants … shared the view that the current situation where Russia and North Korea‘s closer ties have gone beyond the movement of military supplies to actual dispatch of troops is a grave security threat not only to our country but to the international community,” the Kyiv Independent reports.
Their statement added, “They also decided not to stand by and will respond by mobilizing all available means in cooperation with the international community.”
President Zelensky warned that this is a “first steps to World War” as the Kremlin and Putin will “actually involve” North Korea troops in the war.