North Korea on Friday condemned Washington's decision to send tanks to Ukraine, saying the United States is fueling a "
proxy war
" to destroy Russia.
On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden promised to send 31 Abrams tanks, one of the powerful and sophisticated combat vehicles of the US military, to kyiv.
However, this delivery should not take place for "
several months
", according to the spokesman for the National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby.
Washington "
crosses the red line further
", lambasted Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in a statement on Friday, accusing the United States, which she describes as "
arch
-criminal ", of being responsible for the war in Ukraine.
Behind the decision "
is the sinister will of the United States to achieve its goal of hegemony
" by continuing to fuel a "
proxy war to destroy Russia
", she continued, adding that Pyongyang will stand "
always
" alongside the Russians.
North Korea behind Moscow
Along with China, Russia is one of Pyongyang's rare allies on the international scene and Moscow has in the past directly come to the aid of Kim Jong Un's regime. North Korea is the only one, alongside Syria and Russia, to have recognized the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk, two pro-Russian separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.
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At the UN Security Council, where Russia is one of the five permanent members, Moscow has long argued against international sanctions imposed on North Korea, even asking for relaxations on humanitarian grounds.
The leader of Pyongyang declared in 2022 that he wanted his country to have the most powerful nuclear force in the world, describing in September as “
irreversible
” the status of nuclear power of the North.
Seoul and Washington lend Pyongyang the intention of carrying out a new nuclear test soon, which would be the seventh in its history and the first since 2017.