Putin won't mention 'North Korean troops'..."Zelensky's pursuit of nuclear weapons, dangerous provocations"

[Anchor]
Russia has been silent on the National Intelligence Service's announcement that North Korea will send more than 12,000 troops to the war in Ukraine.

Russian President Putin sent a strong warning to Ukrainian President Zelensky that he could pursue nuclear weapons without mentioning them.

Reporter Lee Kyung-ah reports.

[Reporter]
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with reporters ahead of the BRICS summit to be held in Russia from the 22nd.

At the meeting, Putin strongly criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said he could pursue nuclear weapons if NATO and NATO membership were to fail.

[Vladimir Putin / Russian President: President Zelensky's remarks are a dangerous provocation. There will be a corresponding response to any move in this direction.]

However, Putin did not address the issue of sending North Korean troops to Ukraine, which has caused global repercussions.

The Kremlin, the Russian Foreign Ministry, and the Ministry of Defense made no related statements, and Russian state media remained silent.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sibihar called for a strong response from the international community, saying, "Russia is seriously expanding its aggression by engaging North Korea at the level of warring parties."

NATO says it cannot confirm the dispatch of North Korean troops so far.

[Marc Rutter / Secretary-General of NATO] Our official position is that we cannot identify the North Korean military that has been actively involved in the war. This position can change. (Even if North Korea does not physically participate in the war), of course, it is helping Russia invade Ukraine.]

The European Union and the EU have said they are ready to consider additional sanctions against North Korea if the dispatch of troops to North Korea is confirmed.

During his visit to Germany, U.S. President Joe Biden appealed to NATO members to maintain support for Ukraine.

But it drew a line on Ukraine's continued calls to lift restrictions on the use of Western long-range missiles to strike mainland Russia.

[Joe Biden / U.S. President: Never in foreign policy...I didn't change my mind. There is currently no consensus on lifting long-range weapons restrictions.]

As North Korea enters the war, the situation is becoming more difficult to predict.

In the meantime, some European countries, such as France, cannot rule out the possibility that the issue of sending troops to Ukraine will resurface.

I'm YTN Lee Kyungah.

Video editing: Jeon Ju-young