Russian President Vladimir Putin said South Korea would make a "big mistake" if it decided to supply weapons to Ukraine, and added that Moscow would respond to such an action in a way painful for Seoul, the agencies quoted by BTA reported.
Putin said this at a press conference in Vietnam in response to a report earlier today by South Korea's Yonhap news agency that, following a meeting a day earlier between the Russian president and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Seoul would consider the possibility to supply Kiev with weapons, notes Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Putin indicated that South Korea has nothing to worry about as far as the pact between Moscow and Pyongyang is concerned.
"South Korea has nothing to fear, as the military aid clause in the treaty we concluded is triggered only in the event of aggression against one of the parties to it. As far as I know, South Korea is not planning aggression against North Korea," the Russian president told the media.
He warned Seoul not to provide weapons to Kiev.
"As for the delivery of a lethal weapon into the war zone in Ukraine, that would be a very big mistake," he said. "I hope that doesn't happen. But if it does happen, we will take appropriate decisions, which most likely will not please the current South Korean leadership."
The Russian leader made his remarks to journalists at the end of his two-day tour of Asia. A day earlier he had talks in North Korea.
In his statement to journalists in Vietnam, Putin mentioned that he does not rule out Russia supplying North Korea with high-precision weapons under the mutual defense pact concluded between them, Interfax news agency reported.