US warns N Korea against any weapons supply to Russia
Arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea are actively advancing, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday (September 05), and warned leader Kim Jong Un that his country would pay a price for supplying Russia with weapons to use in Ukraine. - REUTERS
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00:00 for its war in Ukraine, that those discussions are actively advancing.
00:03 Arms talks between Russia and North Korea are actively advancing.
00:07 That's according to U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Tuesday,
00:12 after reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un plans to visit Russia.
00:16 Sullivan also sent a stern warning against the possibility of supplying
00:21 Moscow with arms for use in Ukraine.
00:24 Providing weapons to Russia for use on the battlefield to attack grain silos
00:29 and the heating infrastructure of major cities as we head into winter,
00:33 to try to conquer territory that belongs to another sovereign nation,
00:38 this is not going to reflect well on North Korea and they will pay a price for this
00:42 in the international community.
00:44 Sullivan told reporters the latest analysis showed Kim expects discussions about weapons to continue,
00:51 including at leader level, perhaps even in person.
00:55 The Kremlin said early on Tuesday it had "nothing to say" about statements by U.S. officials that
01:01 Kim plans to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin for arms talks.
01:07 If the trip happens, it would be Kim's first known visit abroad in more than four years
01:12 and the first since the coronavirus pandemic.
01:14 On Monday, Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu
01:18 said the two countries are discussing the possibility of joint military exercises.
01:23 Shoigu had visited Pyongyang in July to attend weapons displays
01:27 that included North Korean ballistic missiles banned by the U.N. Security Council.
01:32 At the Tuesday news briefing,
01:35 Sullivan also took the chance to critique Russia's war efforts in Ukraine.
01:39 I think it says a lot that Russia is having to turn to a country like North Korea
01:46 to seek to bolster its defense capacity in a war that it expected would be over in a week,
01:51 that in September of 2023 it is going to North Korea to get munitions
01:57 to try to continue to grind out on the battlefield in Ukraine.
02:01 He also pointed out the U.S. imposed targeted sanctions in mid-August
02:05 to deter arms deals between North Korea and Russia,
02:09 and called on Pyongyang to stick to its public commitments
02:12 to not supply weapons for a war that is killing Ukrainians.