TAIPEI, Taiwan – Russia warned that U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles adds “fuel to the fire” of the war and would escalate tensions.
The Kremlin’s warning came after media reports that the U.S. had authorized the first use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine for strikes into Russia in a response to Russia’s decision to bring North Korean troops into its war on Ukraine.
“This decision is reckless, dangerous, aimed at a qualitative change, a qualitative increase in the level of involvement of the United States in this conflict,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“It is obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps to continue adding fuel to the fire and continue to provoke tension around this conflict,” Peskov added.
The New York Times, citing unidentified American officials, reported on Sunday that the U.S. weapons were likely to be initially used against Russian and North Korean troops in Russia’s southwestern Kursk region. Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into Kursk on Aug. 6.
The newspaper added that although the officials did not believe the permission for Ukraine to use the weapons would significantly impact the direction of the war, one aim was to warn North Korea that their troops are at risk and discourage them from sending more.
Washington has not officially commented on the report, but South Korea said it was already informed by the U.S. about the decision.
North Korea had not responded to the report by the time of publication.
The U.S. and South Korea said that North Korean troops had been fighting against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region.
The U.S. estimated more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers had been sent to Kursk and they had begun combat operations alongside Russian forces, but both Moscow and Pyongyang have remained silent regarding the presence of North Korean troops.
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At a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiga criticized Russia for “siding with” North Korea as he presented a fragment of a North Korean KN-23 missile that he said Russia used to hit Ukraine.
“This is a real, authentic part of a KN-23 missile that hit Ukraine. Such deadly weapons fall on our people all the time,” said Sybiga.
“Russia is now standing side by side with rogue states like Iran and North Korea. The involvement of North Korean troops in the war represents a new level of conflict escalation and global war spread,” he added.
Sybiga’s remarks came after the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise under Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice said it found Russia used, among other things, North Korean ballistic missiles of the KN-23/24 type during a combined attack on Ukraine on Nov. 13.
The institute added that the missiles were launched from North Korean-made launchers, as it would be much more difficult to adapt Russian systems.
“We all know, by providing Russia with weapons, North Korea wants to obtain technologies that will have an impact in the Pacific region,” said Sybiga.
The British arms watchdog Conflict Arms Research said in April it had analyzed 290 parts from a North Korean missile used by Russia against Ukraine and concluded that the missile was believed to be a North Korean short-range ballistic missile, either the KN-23 or KN-24.
Edited by Mike Firn.