BRUSSELS — NATO Chief Mark Rutte warned that if North Korea were to deploy troops to Ukraine in support of Russia, it would lead to a significant escalation of the conflict. Rutte made the statement on social media platform X on Monday (Oct 21).

Having recently assumed his role at NATO, Rutte discussed the alliance’s close ties with South Korea during a conversation with President Yoon Suk-yeol. Their talks focused on defense cooperation and the interlinked security dynamics of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions.

Last week, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed that North Korea was preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to assist Russia, and that some North Korean officers were already operating in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

While the West has long accused North Korea of providing weapons to Russia, both Rutte and the Pentagon stated last week that they have not yet found concrete evidence of North Korean troops being present in Ukraine.

Disclaimer: This image is taken from Reuters file