U.S. at OSCE says reviewing response to DPRK's possible participation in war against Ukraine

The United States is consulting closely with allies and partners over their response to North Korea's possible involvement in Russia's war against Ukraine and is reviewing a full range of policy options.

U.S. Chargé d'Affaires at the OSCE Katherine Brucker said this during a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, Ukrinform reports.

"If DPRK soldiers deploy into combat against Ukraine, this would be profoundly reckless and destabilizing on the part of Russia. We are consulting closely with our allies and partners over how we would respond and are reviewing a full range of additional policy options," she said.

According to Brucker, the United States believes the DPRK has sent around 10,000 soldiers to train in eastern Russia and assumes that these North Korean troops will augment Russian forces near Ukraine "over the next several weeks." At the same time, a small number of DPRK soldiers are already present in Russia's Kursk region, near the border with Ukraine.

"We are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Kursk. We do not yet know whether these soldiers will enter into combat alongside the Russian military, but this is an acute and highly concerning probability," Brucker said.

She stressed that if DPRK soldiers do enter into combat, this would "demonstrate Russia's inability to sustain its own troop levels; its growing desperation; and a dangerous expansion of its war against Ukraine."

In addition, Russia's turn to a pariah state for assistance showcases "Moscow's growing reliance on these partners and its continued flaunting of international law, including relevant UN Security Council resolutions."

Photo: crisisgroup.org