Putin Suggests Arming N Korea To Spite The West

(TotalConservative.com) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a mutual defense agreement last week where both nations agreed to come to the aid of the other, if attacked. Putin informed reporters of the agreement during a press briefing in Vietnam a day after his meeting with Kim.

North Korea has been in the news over the last year due to various ballistic missile tests which regularly trigger warnings in Japan. They’ve also launched satellites into orbit, both of which have been condemned by international authorities. Putin is now suggesting that they may arm North Korea in a similar fashion to how NATO member states have armed Ukraine. Putin highlighted recent decisions by Western governments to give Ukraine long ranged weapons along with permission to fire on targets inside of Russia as one of the reasons for the potential change in policy.

Putin said specifically he wasn’t excluding the possibility of arming North Korea or any other country. Putin added that the mutual defense pact would automatically trigger Russia to come to the aid of North Korea if it was attacked. Putin said that the agreement should act as a deterrent to prevent further conflict.

Putin was clear that they had no intention of using North Korean soldiers in Ukraine. He did suggest that Moscow was rethinking its policy regarding nuclear weapons, specifically tactical nukes which have much lower yields. He also warned against South Korea arming Ukraine or otherwise getting itself involved in the conflict in Europe.

South Korean authorities reportedly were considering such in comments given to the press following the announcement of the agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Putin’s comments about nuclear weapons were in response to “new elements” from other governments around the world lowering their thresholds for potentially use of atomic weaponry, so he claimed. Putin has repeatedly warned the West that extending the conflict in Ukraine continuously increases the risk of nuclear weapons being used.

Russia has had a longstanding policy of not using nukes unless someone else does so first or is the victim of a conventional attack that threatens its existence.