News Desk

Should South Korea arm Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, Vladimir Putin has cautioned that it would be committing “a big mistake”.

His remarks follow Seoul’s announcement that it was exploring the option in response to North Korea’s and Russia’s recent agreement to support one another in the case of “aggression” against the other. In the event that Seoul chooses to arm Kiev, Moscow “will… [make] decisions which are unlikely to please the current leadership of South Korea,” Russian President Vladimir Putin informed reporters on Thursday. Speaking in Vietnam, the Russian president had just returned from an opulent trip to Pyongyang, where he had signed a mutual defence pact with Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea.

Additionally, Mr. Putin issued a warning, saying that if the US and its allies keep arming Ukraine, Moscow is prepared to arm Pyongyang. “Those who provide these weapons think they are not in a conflict with us. “I have stated, even in Pyongyang, that we reserve the right to provide armaments to other parts of the globe,” stated Mr. Putin. The national security adviser for South Korea, Chang Ho-jin, had earlier declared that his country intended to “reconsider the issue of arms support to Ukraine” and that Seoul saw the Russian-North Korean accord as a danger to its security.

In response to Mr. Putin’s statements, the presidential office of South Korea declared on Friday that it would examine “many options” for arming Ukraine and that its position would “depend on how Russia approaches this issue.” In addition, it sent a protest letter to Russian Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev, requesting that Moscow “immediately ceases” military collaboration with Pyongyang.