The United States expressed "incredible concern" about Russia's possible arms supply to North Korea

The United States has expressed deep concern over statements by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in which he did not rule out the possibility of Russian arms sales to North Korea. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called Putin's words "incredibly disturbing" on Thursday, 20 June.

Source. Reuters reports.

"This could destabilise the Korean peninsula," Miller said, adding that supplying North Korea with weapons could also "violate UN Security Council resolutions that Russia itself has supported".

Earlier in the day, Vladimir Putin told reporters that Moscow "reserves the right to supply weapons to other regions of the world" in the context of Russia's agreements with North Korea.

"The Westerners supply weapons to Ukraine and say that we have no control over anything here, and it doesn't matter how they are used. And we can also say that we have supplied something to someone, and we have no control over it," he said.

At the same time, according to AFP, Putin warned South Korea against supplying arms to Ukraine, saying it would be a "very big mistake."

Following the conclusion of the partnership agreement between Russia and the DPRK, South Korea said it intended to reconsider direct arms supplies to Ukraine.

On 20 June, National Security Adviser Chan Ho-jin expressed "serious concern" and condemned the signing of the agreement, adding that any cooperation that directly or indirectly contributes to North Korea's military build-up is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

Background. Putin reportedly threatened to supply precision weapons to North Korea in response to the provision of Western weapons to Ukraine. He said that the use of Western weapons to strike Belgorod would be investigated as an "act of aggression".