Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies late Friday to take action to address the presence of North Korean troops in Russia before they engage his country in battle, reports " Reuters".
In a video posted on Telegram, Zelensky said that North Korea has made progress in its military capacity, missile deployment and weapons production and "now, unfortunately, they will learn modern warfare.
"The first thousand soldiers from North Korea are near the Ukrainian border. Ukrainians will be forced to defend themselves against them, he said. The world will be watching again."
Zelensky said Ukraine has named every place where North Korean soldiers are stationed in Russia. But Kiev's Western allies, he said, have not delivered the long-range weapons needed to strike.
"But instead of such a necessary long-range capability, America is watching, Britain is watching, Germany is watching...", he said. Anyone in the world who really wants Russia's war against Ukraine to not escalate should not just watch. They must act. Words about the inadmissibility of escalation and expansion of war must be matched with action."
The video follows Thursday's interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS, in which Zelensky criticized the "zero" response of its allies to the deployment of Russian troops from North Korea.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Thursday that there are 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia, including about 8,000 in the South Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched an invasion in August.
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui told his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Friday that his country will support Russia until it achieves victory in the war in Ukraine.