Despite rejecting the US's previous claims about DPRK arms assistance to Moscow by North Korean and Russian officials, the White House repeated this claim by releasing satellite images.
Claiming that North Korea is supporting Russia’s military operations against Ukraine by providing arms and ammunition to Wagner, John Kirby in his press conference of Friday asserted, "In part because of our sanctions and export controls, Russia is searching for arms from foreign countries, including through Wagner. In recent weeks, we have seen North Korea — sorry — we have seen North Korean officials falsely deny that they have provided arms to Wagner. As we have said publicly, North Korea delivered infantry rockets and missiles into Russia for use by Wagner toward the end of last year."
"So, today we are releasing imagery of this initial delivery. This imagery shows that on November 18th, five Russian railcars traveled from Russia to North Korea. On the next day, November 19th, North Korea loaded those railcars with — railcars with shipping containers, and the train returned to Russia," he continued to claim.
Claiming that the US expects that Russia will continue to receive North Korean weapons systems, Kirby said, "We obviously condemn North Korea’s actions, and we urge North Korea to cease these deliveries to Wagner immediately."
In late November last year, the United States claimed that North Korea was sending ammunition and weapons to Russia through the sea, but in the images that the White House has published, only images of rail cars can be seen.
The authorities of Pyongyang and Moscow have repeatedly rejected Washington's claims about North Korea's arms assistance to Russia.
MP/PR/FNA14011101000315
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