Zelenskiy says relationships with partners would have to change

14/10/2024 6:06

        Ukrainian President Volodymyr
        Zelenskiy said on Sunday that defence relationships with his
        country's partners would have to change in light of North Korean
        transfers of people as well as weapons to Russian forces in
        Ukraine.
        
        The Kremlin on Thursday dismissed South Korean assertions
        that North Korea may have sent some military personnel to help
        Russia against Ukraine and might be weighing a bigger
        deployment.
        
        "We see that the alliance between Russia and such regimes as
        the North Korean one is getting stronger," Zelenskiy said in his
        nightly video address. "This is not just about the transfer of
        weapons, this is in fact about the transfer of people from North
        Korea to the armed forces of the occupiers.
        
        "It is obvious that under such conditions our relationship
        with our partners needs to evolve," he added. "The front line
        needs more support. We are talking about more long-range
        capabilities for Ukraine and more sustained supplies for our
        forces rather than a simple list of military hardware."
        
        South Korea's Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun said on Tuesday
        that "there was a high possibility" North Korea could deploy
        troops to help Russia in the war with Ukraine.
        
        Kim also told a parliamentary hearing that news reports of
        North Korean military officers having been killed in a Ukrainian
        strike on territory controlled by Russian forces were likely
        true.
        
        Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked on Thursday if North
        Korea was sending its troops to fight in Ukraine, told
        reporters: "This looks like another bit of fake news."