Ukraine’s Zelenskyy states North Korean troops poised to join war

Kyiv: North Korean troops are poised to be deployed by Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine as early as this weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on Friday.

Western officials have warned that North Korean units joining the fight would stoke the almost three-year war and bring geopolitical consequences as far away as the Indo-Pacific region.

The possibility has alarmed leaders and deepened diplomatic tensions around the war. A senior official in the Ukrainian presidential office told The Associated Press on Friday that Zelenskyy had cancelled a planned visit to Kyiv by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly about the matter, said the visit was supposed to come after this week’s summit in the Russian city of Kazan of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, which Guterres attended.

A photograph of Guterres shaking hands with Putin sparked outrage in Ukraine. Zelenskyy claimed Ukrainian intelligence indicated North Korean troops would be deployed by Russia in combat zones this weekend, marking an escalation.

North Korean units were reportedly spotted in Russia’s Kursk region, with about 12,000 soldiers, including 500 officers, prepared for winter. The U.S. noted 3,000 North Korean troops training in Russia, while Zelenskyy warned that foreign intervention could escalate the conflict into

a “world war.”