The United States has said that Russia is deepening the conflict in Ukraine by deploying North Korean troops to the frontline, Reuters reported. The US made its statement after the Kremlin warned that Washington would increase its involvement in the war even further by allowing Kiev's forces to strike Russian territory with US weapons.
During a briefing, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller declined to confirm whether President Joe Biden's administration had made a decision to authorize the strikes, but reiterated that the United States "will always adjust and adjust the resources it provides to Ukraine when it is relevant".
On Sunday, Reuters reported that the Biden administration had decided to allow Ukraine to strike Russian territory, a move that anonymous US sources said was in response to the deployment of North Korean troops.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that the Biden administration is adding fuel to the fire and wants to deepen the conflict in Ukraine.
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya told a Security Council meeting that the US government had given Zelensky a "suicidal permission to use long-range weapons to strike targets in Russia".
"Maybe, for many reasons, Joe Biden has nothing to lose, but we are amazed at how short-sighted the leaders of Great Britain and France are,", he said.
"They tend to be playthings in the hands of the outgoing administration and involve not only their own countries, but also the whole of Europe, in an escalation with drastic consequences," Nebenzia added.
Miller earlier said Russia has repeatedly escalated the conflict and pointed to the 11,000 North Korean troops deployed fighting Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region.
"This is a huge escalation on the part of Russia, which involves an Asian army in a conflict on the territory of Europe,", Miller said, adding that the US response will be uncompromising. "We will continue to do what is necessary to hold Russia accountable for its actions, including actions that deepen the conflict, and to hold North Korea accountable for its actions that escalate the conflict," he added.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters at the United Nations that the presence of North Korean forces was a "major, major escalation" and said he would put Ukraine in the strongest possible position.