NATO concerned about possible Russian support for DPRK missile and nuclear programmes

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the Alliance is concerned about the assistance that Russia may provide to North Korea's missile and nuclear programmes following Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's visit to the DPRK. Source: Stoltenberg at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after a meeting in Washington Details: Stoltenberg said that Russia's war in Ukraine is supported by China, North Korea and Iran, which want Ukraine's Western allies to fail.

"We are of course also concerned about the potential support that Russia provides to North Korea when it comes to supporting their missile and nuclear programmes," Stoltenberg said.

He drew attention to the military support that Russia receives from North Korea and Iran, as well as how China supports Russia's military economy.  "They [China] cannot continue to have normal trade relationships with countries in Europe and at the same time, fuel the biggest war we have seen since the Second World War," he said, adding that at some point there have to be consequences for Beijing.

Stoltenberg added it was too early to say what those consequences might be, "it has to be an issue that we need to address because to continue as we do today is not viable". During his visit to the DPRK, Putin promised to deepen trade and security ties and support North Korea against the United States in talks with its leader Kim Jong Un.

Background:

• Recently, John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, said that the United States was concerned about the deepening of relations between Russia and North Korea amid Vladimir Putin's visit to Pyongyang.
• Russia and North Korea have stepped up their military cooperation over the past year.

  Moscow received North Korean ballistic missiles and ammunition and promised Pyongyang its own technologies for satellite and missile programmes in return.

• South Korean Defence Minister Shin Won-sik said that North Korea had sent containers to Russia that could hold almost 5 million artillery shells.

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