Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the United States and its allies that he will arm North Korea if the U.S. continues to supply advanced weaponry aimed at Russian territory, an escalation that raises the risk of conflict and highlights intense geopolitical tensions over Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters late Thursday during a visit to Vietnam, Putin repeated a similar but less explicit threat he made earlier in Pyongyang. He reaffirmed a Cold War-era mutual defense pact with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and said the two countries are obligated to provide each other with military assistance in case of an attack.
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To justify the possible arms transfer to North Korea that would violate U.N. sanctions, Putin cited recent decisions by the U.S. and its allies to allow weapons provided by Ukraine to be used to attack Russian territory. The White House approved those actions last month but maintained restrictions on long-range attacks using U.S. weapons inside Russia.
“Those who provide these weapons believe that we are not at war with them,” Putin said, adding, “But as I have said before, we reserve the right to supply weapons to other parts of the world, including Pyongyang.”
He also questioned the future destination of these weapons, suggesting that North Korea could then distribute the Russian weapons to other hostile powers around the world who are hostile to the United States and its allies.
Putin declined to say what types of weapons Russia might provide to North Korea, but Kim Jong Un is reportedly stationing nuclear warheads, missiles, submarines and satellites in a region that has some of the world's most advanced and dangerous technology.
Ukraine war affects relations between Russia and North Korea
The Russian leader's visit to Pyongyang overshadows long-standing Kremlin priorities and underscores the central role of Ukraine in his foreign policy. Allegations by the United States and South Korea that North Korea has shipped numerous ballistic missiles and more than 11,000 containers of munitions to Russia for use in the Ukrainian war have stoked concern. Both Russia and North Korea deny these allegations, which violate UN sanctions.
Russia has previously supported UN efforts to curb Kim's nuclear and missile programs through several Security Council resolutions, which were imposed after North Korea conducted six nuclear tests and developed an intercontinental ballistic missile.
But Putin has now dramatically reversed course, arguing for the lifting of the sanctions he once supported, a change that reflects his desire to increase the costs to the United States of aiding Ukraine and Russia's need for North Korea's vast stockpile of conventional weapons and munitions for battlefield use.
“The West is supplying weapons to Ukraine but claims it has no control over their use,” Putin said. “We can similarly supply weapons to other countries and deny them control. Let them think about it,” he added.
Defense pact renewal intensifies regional tensions
Putin has renewed a Cold War-era mutual defense pact with North Korea and hinted at possible arms supplies to the Kim regime, raising concerns in South Korea and Japan, where tens of thousands of U.S. troops are stationed.
South Korean officials responded by suggesting they could send lethal aid to Ukraine in retaliation, prompting Putin to warn against such a move in remarks on Thursday before leaving the region.
“This would be a serious mistake,” Putin warned. “I hope that this does not happen. If it does, we will take appropriate measures, but it is unlikely to please the current leadership of South Korea.”
He further reassured South Korea that the Mutual Defense Treaty was only invoked in response to an aggression against North Korea and that, to his knowledge, South Korea had no intention of carrying out such an attack.
Putin has criticised the “suffocating effect of sanctions” in speeches to the international community and likened restrictions on North Korea to the Nazi siege of Leningrad during World War II, which killed his young brother.
In his comments on Thursday, Putin renewed his call for a reevaluation of these sanctions, particularly those affecting labor migrants, arguing that they are depriving North Korean families of income to support their children.
“Doesn't this situation remind you of anything?” Putin asked, drawing parallels with World War II. “Is this humanitarian?”
Putin's demands and nuclear warnings
Trump's visit to Pyongyang came in the wake of his latest demands for an end to the war in Ukraine, offering a ceasefire and negotiations on the condition that Kiev withdraw its forces from four eastern regions claimed by Moscow and abandon its ambitions to join NATO. Ukraine and its allies summarily rejected the proposal, seeing it as a demand for surrender and territorial concessions.
In the days that followed, Putin and his top advisers pressed the West to take the proposal seriously, warning that the terms would become increasingly tough and the situation on the battlefield would worsen.
The Russian leader also suggested Moscow could adjust its nuclear policy in response to new Western technologies that lower the threshold for nuclear use. Russia possesses the world's largest stockpile of tactical nuclear weapons designed for low-yield, limited battlefield scenarios.
Putin ordered military drills using such weapons earlier this year after Britain endorsed Ukraine's attack on Russia and French President Emmanuel Macron suggested Western troops might be sent to Ukraine.
Putin has regularly warned the West against pursuing a “strategic defeat” for Moscow in the Ukraine conflict, and on Thursday reiterated that “this could mean the end of the thousand-year history of the Russian state. I think everyone understands this. So the question is, why should we be afraid? Isn't it better to see it through to the end?”
