By Valerie Hopkins
On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin of Russia seemingly acknowledged the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, marking his first remarks regarding the assessment made by Western officials that the isolated Asian nation had joined Russia’s military efforts in Ukraine.
“Images — if they exist, they indicate something significant,” he stated in response to an inquiry about satellite photos that suggested the presence of North Korean military personnel in Russia.
His somewhat sarcastic reply during a conference for emerging-market economies, which Russia hosted, did not clearly confirm or refute the assertions made by the Pentagon the previous day, which claimed that North Korea had dispatched troops to Russia.
This comment came shortly after Russia’s lower parliament passed a mutual defense agreement with North Korea, which Putin had signed with Kim Jong Un, the North’s leader, during his visit to Pyongyang in June.
While the vote was largely procedural, Putin leveraged it to underscore Moscow’s relationship with North Korea and convey a message that he was rallying allies to support his standoff with the West.
“Today, we ratified our treaty on strategic partnership that includes article four,” Putin continued, referencing a provision that states if either country is “put in a state of war by an armed invasion,” the other will “provide military and other assistance by any means available without delay.”
“We have always believed that the North Korean leadership is highly committed to this agreement, but it is for us to determine how to implement it,” he added.
On Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin characterized the presence of North Korean troops in Russia as “very, very serious,” although he remarked that the activities of these soldiers in Russia remained “to be seen.” He noted that there was no definitive proof of North Korean troops mobilizing towards Ukraine.
Ukraine has claimed that as many as 12,000 North Korean soldiers could be deployed to fight alongside Russian forces. South Korea’s intelligence agency estimated that around 3,000 North Korean soldiers are currently on Russian territory, with projections suggesting their numbers could rise to 10,000 by December. A statement from Ukraine’s intelligence agency on Thursday indicated that initial North Korean troops had arrived in Russia’s western Kursk region, an area where Ukraine had conducted an incursion in August. These allegations have not been independently verified.
Earlier on Thursday, Putin asserted that Russia could not be overpowered on the battlefield.
“Our opponents do not hide their aim to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia,” Putin stated before the assembled leaders. “Let me be clear: These are illusory calculations made by those unfamiliar with Russia’s history.”
The Russian president spoke in Kazan on the concluding day of a summit called BRICS, named after its member countries Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Putin has attempted to transform the conference into a global counterbalance to a wealthy West.
In his remarks, Putin described the summit as successful for a group dedicated to constructing a “more democratic, inclusive, and multipolar world order.”
This event has been relatively advantageous for Putin’s public image, as the West has aimed to isolate him since the comprehensive invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It was attended by a multitude of global leaders, including over 20 heads of state. Putin declared that leaders from 30 countries, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — a NATO member — had shown interest in joining the coalition.
The war in Ukraine overshadowed the three-day gathering, although most of the leaders who participated did not prioritize it in their speeches, and no advancements were made toward a peace plan. The official communiqué, agreed upon by all member states, focused more on the escalating crisis in the Middle East, denouncing Western sanctions, and advocating for reforms in the global financial system.
However, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres — during his first visit to Russia since April 2022, when Mariupol was besieged — urged for a “just peace” as he addressed a plenary session of BRICS members and aspirants, prior to a one-on-one meeting with Putin.
“We need peace in Ukraine — a just peace in accordance with the U.N. Charter, international law, and the General Assembly resolution,” Guterres emphasized. Such a resolution, he stated, should adhere to “the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of all states.”
His visit was met with criticism from Ukraine and from Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of fallen Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
“It is the third year of the war, and the UN Secretary-General was shaking hands with a murderer,” Navalnaya remarked on social media platform X, above a photo of Putin greeting Guterres.
