North Korea has criticized Washington’s decision to supply tanks to Ukraine, saying the US is “further expanding the proxy war” to destroy Russia. Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden promised 31 Abrams tanks, one of the most powerful and sophisticated weapons in the US military, to help Kiev repel Moscow’s invasion.
Russia, along with China, is one of the North’s few international friends and has previously come to the regime’s aid. In a statement released late Friday, Kim Jo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, blamed Washington for the crisis in Ukraine, accusing it of “further crossing the red line” by sending tanks.
She said in a statement “Behind this lies the sinister intention of the US to realize its hegemonic goal by further expanding the proxy war to destroy Russia”.
Washington is the “chief criminal”, she added, and Pyongyang will “always stand in the same trench with service personnel and people in Russia”. Besides Syria and Russia, North Korea is the only country to recognize the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk, two Russian-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.
Russia, one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, has long held a line against increasing pressure on nuclear-armed North Korea, even asking for the easing of international sanctions for humanitarian reasons.
Kim Jong-un declared North Korea an “irreversible” nuclear state in September, and the country conducted almost monthly weapons tests last year to lift sanctions – including firing its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile.
Written by: Vaishali Verma
