In a joint statement, the United States and its allies condemn Russia’s use of ballistic missiles sourced from North Korea, expressing shared concern over the deployment of such weaponry.
The US and its allies issued a joint statement on January 9th condemning the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) export of ballistic missiles and Russia’s acquisition of these missiles. The statement also denounced Russia’s utilization of these missiles against Ukraine on December 30, 2023, and January 2, 2024.
In conjunction with the US, Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the High Representative of the European Union participated in the joint statement.
“Our governments stand together in resolute opposition to arms transfers between the DPRK and Russia. The transfer of ballistic missiles, along with any other arms and related materiel, from the DPRK to Russia flagrantly violates multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs)—namely, resolution 1718 (2006), resolution 1874 (2009), and resolution 2270 (2016)—that Russia itself supported.”
“We are closely monitoring what Russia provides to the DPRK in return for these weapons exports. We call on the DPRK and Russia to abide by relevant UNSCRs and to immediately cease all activities that violate them,” the countries stated.
During the past weeks, Washington also alleged that Russia was in discussions with Iran to purchase short-range ballistic missiles. According to the US intelligence assessment, Iranian missiles have not yet arrived in Russia, but the deal is expected to be completed eventually. These claims from the US were endorsed by several Ukrainian officials, including an adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration.
