US top diplomat Antony Blinken warned Wednesday that the deployment of North Korean troops alongside Russian forces fighting on the Ukrainian border demanded a "firm response". The secretary of state was speaking at the start of a day of Brussels talks with NATO and EU officials to urgently address ramping up support for Kyiv before Donald Trump reclaims the White House -- potentially jeopardising future aid. Addressing reporters alongside NATO chief Mark Rutte, Blinken said they had discussed the fact North Korean forces have been "injected into the battle, and now, quite literally, in combat which demands and will get a firm response.
" The US State Department confirmed Tuesday that Pyongyang's troops -- whose entry into the conflict marks a potentially major escalation -- have begun "engaging in combat operations" alongside Russian forces near the border with Ukraine. A spokesman said that of the more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers sent to eastern Russia, "most of them have moved to the far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces". Rutte meanwhile stressed the crucial role played by China in helping Russia's "war effort", as well as Iranian weapons deliveries -- paid for with Russian funds that were in turn helping Tehran to "destabilize the Middle East".
Blinken was taking part in a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, NATO's decision-making body, before talks with European Union top diplomat Josep Borrell, his suc.