U.S. says Russia looking to North Korea for weapons needed for Ukraine war

The White House on Thursday said there was new evidence that Russia is once again looking to North Korea for weapons to fuel its war in Ukraine, this time in a deal that would supply Pyongyang with much-needed food and other commodities.

The latest accusation is that Russia, desperate for weapons and limited by sanctions and export controls, has turned to “rogue” countries to help it continue the 13-month-old war.

“As part of this proposed deal, Russia will receive more than two dozen types of weapons and ammunition from Pyongyang,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

“We also know that Russia is seeking to send a delegation to North Korea and that Russia is offering North Korea food in exchange for ammunition.”

The Biden administration previously disclosed intelligence to provide evidence that Iran sold hundreds of attack drones to Russia over the summer and that the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company, had shipped weapons from North Korea to help bolster its forces during the war. along with Russian forces in Ukraine.

Food challenges in North Korea

Experts believe the food situation in North Korea is the worst it has been under Kim Jong-un’s 11-year rule, but they still say there are no signs of famine or mass death.

Kim vowed to strengthen the country’s control over agriculture and take other steps to increase grain production, North Korean state media reported earlier this month.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that US intelligence suggested China was considering supplying arms and ammunition to Russia, although White House officials said they had not seen evidence that Beijing was following up on arms shipments.

The publication of Russia’s efforts to obtain weapons from North Korea is just the latest example of the Biden administration loosening restrictions on intelligence findings and making them public during the grinding war in Ukraine.

The government says it has sought to disseminate its intelligence findings so that allies and the public remain clear about Moscow’s intentions and that Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks twice about his actions.

Earlier on Thursday, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against a Slovakian national, alleging he tried to facilitate an arms deal between Russia and North Korea.

Between late 2022 and early 2023, the Treasury Department said the defendants cooperated with North Korean officials to obtain more than two dozen types of weapons and ammunition for Russia in exchange for commercial aircraft, raw materials and commodities to be shipped to North Korea.

The accused worked with Russian nationals to find commercial aircraft to deliver goods to North Korea in exchange.

“Russia has lost more than 9,000 pieces of heavy military equipment since the start of the war, and due to multilateral sanctions and export controls, Putin is increasingly desperate to replace them,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

“Schemes like the arms deals carried out by this individual show that Putin is a supplier of last resort like Iran and the DPRK.”