Putin Doesn't Deny Sending Thousands Of North Korean Troops To Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin/TASS

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin has not denied claims that North Korea has sent troops to Russia. Putin stressed that Moscow has the authority to carry out joint defense clauses with Pyongyang.

The United States previously said it saw evidence North Korea had sent 3,000 troops to Russia for a possible deployment in Ukraine.

When asked by reporters about satellite imagery showing the movement of North Korean troops, Putin said: "The image is a serious thing. If there is an image, then the image reflects something."

However, Putin said the West West police chief had exacerbated the Ukraine crisis and said NATO officers and instructors were directly involved in the Ukraine war.

"We know who is there, which NATO countries Europe, and how they carry out this work," Putin said.

The Kremlin leadership specifically mentioned Article 4 of the Russian partnership agreement with North Korea which regulates collective defense.

"There is article 4. We have never doubted in the slightest that North Korean leadership is taking our agreement seriously. But what we are doing in the framework of this article is our business," Putin said.

He said Russian troops were moving forward along the front lines in Ukraine, and had trapped a large group of Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region.