United States: North Korea-Russia Defence Agreement May Inflame Relations With China

The top US military officer warned on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mutual defence agreement with North Korea has the potential to cause friction with China, the reclusive state’s longtime ally.

During an overseas trip, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, “We’ve got someone else who’s kind of nudging in now, so that may drive a little bit more friction between (China) and Russia”.

“So it’ll be interesting to see how these three countries — how this plays out”, Brown continued.

On Thursday, Putin said Russia may transfer weapons to North Korea in a mirror response to the Western arming of Ukraine.

Brown recognized the United States’s concerns about the deal.

However, he tempered his words by pointing out the accord’s obvious restrictions and expressing uncertainty that Moscow would give North Korea everything it desired.

U.S. authorities believe North Korea is interested in acquiring fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment or materials, and other advanced technologies from Russia.

“The feedback I have on the defence agreement — it was a broad agreement that’s not overly binding, which gives you an indication (that) they want to work together but they don’t want to get their hands tied”, Brown added.

The treaty, signed on Wednesday by Putin and Kim, pledges each side to provide quick military assistance to the other in the case of armed aggression against either.

Putin has stated that Moscow intended its collaboration with North Korea to act as a deterrence to the West, but that there was no need for North Korean forces to fight in Ukraine.

The United States and Ukraine claim that North Korea has already provided Russia with considerable amounts of artillery munitions and ballistic missiles, which Moscow and Pyongyang deny.

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