U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a joint news conference at the State Department in Washington, U.S., June 18. Reuters-Yonhap
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged Tuesday to do "everything" to cut off North Korea's support for Russia amid the war in Ukraine, as Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang this week.
Blinken made the remarks as Putin and Kim are scheduled to hold a summit in the North Korean capital on Wednesday (local time) amid growing concerns about security implications of their countries' deepening military cooperation.
"We'll continue to do everything we can to cut off the support that countries, like Iran and North Korea, are providing," the secretary said during a press conference after his meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington.
Washington has revealed that the North provided Russia with more than 11,000 containers of munitions and related material and dozens of ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine.
Blinken reiterated that Russia is trying "in desperation" to develop and strengthen relations with countries that can provide it with what it needs to continue the war in Ukraine, while criticizing China's support for Russia's defense industrial base and Iran's provision of drones to Russia.
"We are very much concerned about this because this is what's keeping the war going," the secretary said, accusing China of "fueling the biggest security threat to Europe as a whole since the end of the Cold War."
"The fastest way to end the war is for Putin to be disabused of the notion that he can outlast Ukraine and outlast all of Ukraine's supporters, but also if he knows that the fuel he needs for his war machine won't be there anymore," he added.
Stoltenberg pointed out that Putin's trip to the North "confirms the very close alignment between Russia and authoritarian states," and underscores that security is a "global" issue.
"What happens in Europe matters for Asia. What happens in Asia matters for us. And this is clearly demonstrated in Ukraine, where Iran, North Korea and China are propping up, fueling Russia's war aggression against Ukraine," he said.
"So this idea that we can divide security into regional theaters doesn't work anymore. Everything is intertwined, and therefore we need to address these challenges together."
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un during their meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo provided by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, June 19. Yonhap
As Putin arrived in the North, the White House reiterated concerns about military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow.
"Deepening cooperation between Russia and the DPRK is a trend that should be of great concern to anyone interested in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, upholding the global nonproliferation regime, abiding by the U.N. Security Council resolutions and supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend for their freedom and their independence against Russia's aggression," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told a press briefing.
DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"This is something that we have been warning about for some time as the DPRK's provision of weapons to Russia has helped enable Russia's brutal war in Ukraine," she added.
Jean-Pierre also called attention to the summit statement that Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping issued last month.
"We noted that the Putin-Xi joint statement called for all sides to reaffirm that political and diplomatic means as the only way to resolve issues on the Korean Peninsula. We hope this is a message that Putin will convey to Kim in their discussion," she said.
"As we have said before, we don't believe any country should give Mr. Putin a platform to promote the war of aggression that we are currently seeing in Ukraine, and Russia, we believe, is blatantly violating the U.N. Charter and working to undermine the international system."
In a separate briefing, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder criticized the North's weapons support for Russia, saying it has been able to help Russia "perpetuate" what he termed an illegal and unprovoked war against Ukrainian people.
"Our focus continues to be on promoting regional security and stability in the region as well as our extended deterrence efforts as it comes to supporting our ROK and Japanese allies," he said, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.
Extended deterrence refers to the U.S.' commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend its allies.
The planned summit between Kim and Putin is being carefully watched by Seoul, Washington and others as it could further accelerate their cooperation in defense and other areas.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy aide, has told Russia's news agency TASS that the summit may produce a treaty on a "comprehensive strategic partnership," a document likely to cement the bilateral partnership at a time of their isolation on the global stage. (Yonhap)