US and NATO should consider striking DPRK troops in Ukraine - Congressman
Kyiv • UNN
The chairman of the US House Intelligence Committee called for consideration of an attack on North Korean troops in Ukraine. Turner also supports Ukraine's right to attack military targets in Russia.
The United States and NATO allies should consider attacking "directly on North Korean troops" if they are on the territory of Ukraine and participate in hostilities on the side of Russia, said Congressman Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, according to Voice of America, UNN reports.
Details
Russia should not "open the season" for unpunished attacks on Ukraine and invite foreign troops to do so, Turner said during a discussion organized by the Atlantic Council on October 30.
"I believe that the United States and NATO allies should seriously discuss and consider attacking North Korean troops directly, if they are in Ukraine and attacking it. North Korean troops have no place in Europe, they should not be attacking a European country. And I think it's in the interest of NATO and the interest of the United States as a NATO member that Asian, North Korean communist troops do not march into a European country and attack it," Turner said.
The congressman emphasized that the decision to attack North Korean troops does not have to be made, but, in his opinion, "a reasonable discussion on this topic should be held.
"I think they should discuss that North Korean troops should not be free from being valid military targets of the United States and NATO," Turner emphasized.
As noted, Turner recently wrote an open letter to the administrationin which he called reports of possible DPRK troop involvement in Russia's war against Ukraine an "extraordinary escalation" and demanded that the Biden-Harris administration and NATO partners "draw a red line" on the use of North Korean troops against Ukraine.
Turner, a Republican congressman from Ohio, also believes that the Ukrainian military should be able to attack legitimate military targets in Russia with weapons supplied by the United States or NATO allies, or with its own weapons without restrictions.
"The United States currently has a policy that Ukraine cannot use weapons provided by NATO and the United States to attack actual military targets in Russia. So, for example, if Russia is using a military system to attack Ukraine from Russian territory, Ukraine cannot attack that system in response with U.S. or local weapons. It is a valid military target that they should be able to respond to. Right now, the administration considers this a provocation. Actually, the first strike by Russia should have been a provocation. They should be able to defend themselves," Turner said.
Recall
A senior official in the South Korean presidential office shared an estimate by South Korean and allied intelligence that at least 11,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, some of them to the western region of Russia near the border with Ukraine.
