UN voices opposition to 'further militarization' of Ukraine conflict amid concerns over NK troop dispatch

The United Nations Secretariat expressed its opposition Thursday to the "further militarization" of the ongoing war in Ukraine amid growing concerns that North Korean troops could be deployed to support Russian forces in the armed conflict.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for Secretary General Antonio Guterres, made the remarks as Seoul and Washington have confirmed that some 3,000 North Korean troops were sent to eastern Russia by ship earlier this month -- a development reaffirming deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

"We are opposed to the further militarization of the conflict in Ukraine by any side," he told a press briefing at UN headquarters in New York.

He was responding to a question about the secretary general's position on the potential deployment of any UN member state's military troops to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Haq also reaffirmed that any violations of the sanctions regime concerning North Korea "needs to be examined and responded to" by the Security Council sanctions committee.

Seoul believes that the North's provision of arms and even its troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine is a violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

Meanwhile, Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon's deputy press secretary, said the North's troop deployment to Russia underscores that Russian President Vladimir Putin has failed to meet "strategic objectives" in Moscow's war against Ukraine.

"What exactly DPRK troops are doing in Russia still remains to be seen," she told a press briefing, using the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "But I think, again, it highlights that Putin has really failed to meet his strategic objectives."

Singh warned that if North Korean troops enter into combat, they would become "co-belligerents" -- a development that she said would be a "very serious" issue.

"We are aware of this relationship. We are going to continue to monitor," she said.

She reiterated that Russia turning to North Korea for manpower, if true, highlights Putin's "desperation."

"Vladimir Putin has become so desperate that he is now willing and soliciting potentially support from the DPRK to put their personnel on the battlefield," she said. "We are talking about over 500,000 casualties that Russia has experienced on the battlefield." (Yonhap)