North Korea has criticized Washington’s decision to supply tanks to Ukraine, saying the United States is “further expanding the proxy war” to destroy Russia. Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden promised 31 Abrams tanks, one of the US military’s most powerful and sophisticated weapons, to help Kyiv fight the invasion of Moscow. .
Along with China, Russia is one of the North’s few international friends and has previously come to the regime’s aid.
Also read: North Korean capital in 5-day lockdown for ‘respiratory illness’: Report
In a statement released late Friday, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, blamed Washington for the crisis in Ukraine, accusing it of “further crossing the red line” by sending in tanks.
“Behind this lies the sinister intent of the United States to realize its hegemonic goal by further expanding the proxy war to destroy Russia,” it said in the statement.
Washington is “the archcriminal,” he added, and Pyongyang “will always be in the same trenches with the military personnel and the people of Russia.”
“The world would be brighter, safer and calmer now if it weren’t for the United States,” he said.
Also read: Joe Biden appoints North Korea’s human rights envoy, first since 2017
Apart from Syria and Russia, North Korea is the only country to recognize the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk, two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.
Russia, one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, has long stood against increasing pressure on North Korea, which possesses nuclear weapons, and has even called for easing international sanctions for reasons humanitarian.
Kim Jong Un declared North Korea an “irreversible” nuclear state in September, and the country has conducted tests of sanctions-violating weapons nearly every month for the past year, including launching its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile.
