NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned that North Korea's potential deployment of troops to Ukraine in support of Russia would mark a major escalation in the ongoing conflict. He shared this message on the social media platform "X."

Rutte mentioned that he recently spoke with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, emphasizing the alliance’s strong partnership with Seoul and the shared security interests between the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated last week that North Korea might be preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to assist Moscow. Western countries have long accused Pyongyang of providing weapons to Russia, although both Rutte and the Pentagon indicated last week that no concrete evidence has been found of North Korean military personnel in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv today to discuss detailed plans for American military support aimed at bolstering Ukraine’s defenses against Russian aggression.