NATO sought in Budapest on Thursday to rally future American President Donald Trump in the face of the Russian threat, emphasizing how North Korea’s role in the war in Ukraine was a game-changer, including for the United States.
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North Korea’s role “illustrates how these countries work together, China, North Korea, Russia and, of course, Iran. And it is more and more a threat, not only for the European NATO countries, but also for the United States”, insisted on his arrival in Budapest for a summit of the European Political Community (EPC) Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance Mark Rutte.
Russia and North Korea have grown significantly closer since Moscow launched its assault on Ukraine in February 2022.
Pyongyang is accused by the West of supplying quantities of shells and missiles to the Russian army in its conflict with Ukraine, and thousands of soldiers have recently been sent to Russian soil.
“North Korea is part of the war in Europe,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told European leaders.
According to him, North Korean soldiers who are in the Russian region of Kursk “took part in hostilities” against the Ukrainian military on the side of Russia and suffered “losses”.
“Pay for it”
“Russia must pay for this. One of the things it’s doing is delivering technology to North Korea, which now threatens the future, the American continent, continental Europe, but also our partners in the Indo-Pacific. added the NATO boss, stressing that this was a “dangerous” development.
Iran is accused of supplying drones and missiles to Russia, and China of helping Moscow circumvent Western sanctions on technology that could help Russia in its war against kyiv.
Mark Rutte said he wanted to discuss it as quickly as possible with the winner of the American presidential election, whom he knows well having met him several times during his first term as Dutch Prime Minister.
“I look forward to sitting down with President Trump and seeing how we will collectively ensure that we address this threat,” he said.
Donald Trump surprised the international community by meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in 2018 before becoming the first American president to set foot on North Korean soil the following year.
Do not give a “victory”
On Tuesday, he recalled in his speech in Washington that he was not there to wage war, but peace. He had promised during the election campaign to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, without saying how.
The Dutchman, however, hopes to convince the unpredictable American billionaire not to give Russia a “victory”, by recalling the crucial role he can play in world affairs.
“His leadership will once again be a key element in keeping our Alliance strong. I look forward to working with him again to advance peace by strengthening NATO,” he said on Wednesday, congratulating Donald Trump on his election.
“Any story that can help Trump view Ukraine more favorably is positive and worth trying,” said an Alliance diplomat interviewed by AFP on this point.
European NATO countries fear being left to their own devices if Donald Trump, as he has repeatedly suggested, interrupts his country’s military aid to Ukraine, the amount of which he has regularly judged too high.
And all the more so at a time of instability on the European continent with Germany, the largest supplier of military aid to Ukraine behind the United States, in the midst of a political crisis.
Many European leaders reaffirmed their commitment to helping Ukraine. “Ukraine deserves our support, whether we are the United States or Europe, because it was brutally attacked by an aggressor country,” stressed Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, host of this meeting, pleaded for a ceasefire.
“We cannot just say + (a ceasefire now) and then we will see +,” Mr. Zelensky retorted Thursday evening. “It’s irresponsible (…) It’s very dangerous rhetoric.”
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