Russia can't sustain its attack on Ukraine without North Korean troops, NATO chief says

• NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said North Korea has sent troops to conflict pinch Russia.
• He presented nan confederation arsenic a motion of weakness, saying Putin could not support up nan penetration alone.
• Ukraine has said it expects to brushwood North Korean troops connected nan battlefield wrong days.

NATO's main said Russia can't prolong its penetration of Ukraine without North Korean troops.

Mark Rutte said astatine a press conference on Monday that North Korean troops were deployed to Russia's Kursk region, wherever Ukraine occupies territory.

He cited intelligence from South Korea's National Intelligence Service, its defense ministry, and NATO allies.

"Over 600,000 Russian soldiers person been killed aliases wounded successful Putin's war, and he's incapable to prolong his battle successful Ukraine without overseas support," he said, referring to Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

He called nan deployment a motion of "growing desperation" successful nan war, immoderate 2 and a half years in.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said complete nan play that he was expecting to spot North Korean troops successful conflict wrong days.

It would beryllium nan first clip different federation had committed crushed troops to nan main warfare effort successful Ukraine. Both sides person agelong received weapons and proposal from their allies.

Last Thursday, Zelenskyy said he had accusation indicating that North Korea was preparing to nonstop 10,000 troops to occupied areas of Ukraine.

The move has alarmed officials successful South Korea, which past week condemned nan deployment. It threatened to nonstop weapons to Ukraine arsenic portion of a bid of phased countermeasures.

Rutte said that NATO urged some Russia and North Korea to propulsion backmost immediately, citing risks to some Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security.

"It undermines bid connected nan Korean peninsula and fuels nan Russian warfare against Ukraine," he said.

For his part, Putin past Friday seemed unmoved by outer criticism, saying whether Russia deploys North Korean troops is Russia's "sovereign decision."

"This is our business," he said, per Reuters.