North Korean support to Russia is ‘first step to world war’: Zelenskyy

North Korean army officers are already on temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory, Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on Thursday.

The Ukrainian president also said the country’s intelligence services had found evidence suggesting that about 10,000 North Korean troops are being trained to join Russian forces in Ukraine.

“Here we see the first step to the world war,” Zelenskyy added during a one-day summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

The Kremlin has previously dismissed reports of North Korean involvement.

Ukraine has previously warned of the dangerous partnership between Moscow and Tehran, with Russian troops using Iranian-made Kamikaze drones on the battlefield for long-range strikes. But sending foreign soldiers to the front line is another sign of escalation, Zelenskyy argued.  

“This is no longer just about transferring weapons. It is actually about sending people from North Korea to the occupying military forces,” he said, adding that Putin is trying to drag other participants into this war to avoid a greater mobilisation at home so as to avoid social strife.

Zelenskyy had earlier met with the 27 EU leaders to present his five-point ‘victory plan’ to end the war by next year.

The first point on that roadmap is an invitation to join the transatlantic military alliance – but to get NATO membership, Ukraine would need the approval of all 32 allies, including the US.

“If we are not helped by our partners, Russia’s chances (on the battlefield) increase,” he said, adding that the most important thing, apart from the arms talks, is that the Ukrainian people have hope of a future after the war.

Zelenskyy believes that for Ukraine to defeat Russia, it is important to be strong on the battlefield, but above all to get a “security umbrella”.

“In practice, this is the only hope for us,” he said.

But NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was non-committal on Wednesday about Zelenskyy’s call to join the military alliance, insisting that they were in close contact with Ukraine about the next steps and that the priority now was to ensure that the country was in a position to negotiate the best possible deal in any future negotiations with Russia.

Zelenskyy’s victory plan also includes greater air defence systems, continued strikes of targets within Russian territory, or access to a broader range of intelligence from allies.  

Join NATO, avoid nuclear weapons

For Zelenskyy, there are only two ways out of this war: either Ukraine gets nuclear weapons again to deter Russian attacks, or it joins NATO.  

“(The) invitation [to join NATO] is a preventive step to show that it’s not Putin that is changing the world” and that “the aggressor cannot create a new international order”, he added, claiming that it would not cross any red lines.   

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NATO’s 32 members take decisions on the basis of consensus, so Kyiv would also need the green light from the US to be part of the military alliance – and depending on the outcome of the next presidential election, that path would be harder to walk.   

Zelenskyy told reporters that he had discussed the issue with outgoing US President Joe Biden and the two candidates seeking to succeed him, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.    

“I said my arguments and he (Trump) said he agreed with my arguments,” Zelenskyy said.  

The Ukrainian leader is expected to head to NATO headquarters this afternoon for a two-day summit of the alliance’s defence ministers.  

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