North Korea on Saturday castigated the United States for supplying Ukraine with long-range ballistic missiles known as ATACMS, saying any strike on Russia with them will only hamper peace efforts.
On Tuesday, Ukraine said it used the US-supplied Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) for the first time, inflicting heavy damage on two airfields in Russian-occupied areas.
“The US finally delivered ATACMS ground-to-ground missile system to Ukraine despite the deep concern and strong opposition of the international community,” Sin Hong-Chol, North Korea’s ambassador to Russia, said in a statement carried by state media KCNA.
“Any strike at the interior of Russia, a nuclear power, will not be of help to the early end of the Ukrainian situation or its peaceful settlement as the US advocates but will serve as a catalyst for putting the whole Europe into the crucible of endless war and prolonging the war,” the statement said.
Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and Kyiv has repeatedly asked Washington for the missiles, while promising not to use them inside Russia.
The US said last week that North Korea had delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and weapons to Russia. The White House released images that it said showed the containers were loaded onto a Russian-flagged ship before being moved via train to southwestern Russia.
North Korea and Russia have been growing closer in recent months. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Russia in September, with Kim throwing support behind the invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also visited North Korea, as the countries bolster security ties amid tensions with the West.
dh/wd (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
