North Korea would “pay a price” if it provides weapons to Russia for use in Moscow’s war in Ukraine, a top Biden administration official said Tuesday.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House that the U.S. is trying to dissuade North Korea from taking that step, but he repeated that Russian efforts to secure weapons are “actively advancing.”
Last week, another White House official, John Kirby, said that under potential deals being discussed, “Russia would receive significant quantities and multiple types of munitions from the DPRK which the Russian military plans to use in Ukraine.”
Sullivan said Tuesday that the quantity and quality of North Korean defense material
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is an “open question.”
“Providing weapons to Russia for use on the battlefield to attack grain silos and the heating infrastructure of major cities as we head into winter, to try to conquer territory that belongs to another sovereign nation, is not going to reflect well on North Korea, and they will pay a price for this in the international community,” Sullivan told reporters.
A U.S. official said Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may travel to Russia soon to meet with President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin tries to acquire military equipment for use in its war in Ukraine.
The U.S. expects Kim will make the trip within the month, the official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The official said the U.S. isn’t sure exactly where or when the meeting would take place, but the Pacific port city of Vladivostok would be a likely possibility given its relative proximity to North Korea.
Last week, Kirby, who is the strategic-communications coordinator for the National Security Council, told reporters that the deals could include “raw materials that would assist Russia’s defense industrial base.”
The Associated Press contributed.
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