KAZAN, Russia (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin on Thursday did not deny U.S. claims that North Korea had sent troops to Russia but said that it was up to Moscow how to run its mutual defence clause with Pyongyang and accused the West of escalating the Ukraine war.
The United States said that it had seen evidence that North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia for possible deployment in Ukraine, a move that could mark a significant escalation of the Ukraine war.
Asked by a reporter about satellite imagery showing North Korean troop movements, Putin said: “Images are a serious thing. If there are images, then they reflect something.”
But he said it was the West which had escalated the Ukraine crisis and said NATO officers and instructors were directly involved in the Ukraine war
“We know who is present there, from which European NATO countries, and how they carry out this work,” Putin said.
The Kremlin chief specifically mentioned Article 4 of the Russian partnership deal with North Korea that deals with mutual defence.
“There is article 4. We have never doubted in the least that the North Korean leadership takes our agreements seriously. But what we do within the framework of this article is our business,” Putin said.
He said that Russia’s army was moving forward along all sections of the front in Ukraine, and had trapped a large number of Ukrainian troops in Kursk region.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Reuters; Writing by Alexander Marrow; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
