Russia Looking to North Korea for Supplies

Russia Looking to North Korea for Supplies

As Russia continues to pursue its illegal war against Ukraine, it is running low on war materiel. To shore up its dwindling supplies, it is turning to states that are under UN Security Council sanction prohibiting all countries from obtaining any arms from them.

In late August, Japan, the Republic of Korea, or South Korea; the United Kingdom, and the United States issued a joint statement condemning Russia for its attempts to purchase arms from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea.

“Arms negotiations between Russia and the DPRK are actively advancing,” said United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield. “Russia is negotiating potential deals for significant quantities and multiple types of munitions from the DPRK to be used against Ukraine.”

“These potential deals could also include the provision of raw materials that would assist Russia’s defense industrial base,” she said. “In its pursuit of these weapons, Russia will violate Security Council resolutions, including resolutions Russia itself voted for. Any such arms deal would be a serious violation of resolutions the Security Council adopted, unanimously, after the DPRK’s past nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches.”

The fact is that “This is not the first time Russia has moved to violate Security Council resolutions to pursue its illegal war against Ukraine,” said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. “There is now incontrovertible evidence that Russia has procured drones from Iran in violation of another resolution it voted for.”

“Russia has since used those drones in punishing attacks against critical infrastructure in Ukraine,” she said.

“Russia’s pattern of behavior – flouting its responsibilities as a member of the Security Council, propping up proliferating regimes – is unacceptable,” said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. “The United States is therefore taking direct action – by exposing and sanctioning individuals and entities working to facilitate arms deals between Russia and the DPRK.”

“We cannot – and we will not – stay silent as we receive more information that Russia continues to turn to rogue regimes to try to obtain weapons and equipment in order to support its brutal war of aggression,” she said.

“We will continue to work with allies and partners to identify, expose, and counter Russian attempts to acquire military equipment from the DPRK or any state that is prepared to support Russia’s war in Ukraine,” said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. “This is a pressing matter of international peace and security.”