US says 8,000 North Korean troops in Russia's Kursk

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States has received information that indicates that "right now" there are 8,000 North Korean troops in Russia's Kursk region, deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood told the Security Council on Thursday.

"I have a very respectful question for my Russian colleague: Does Russia still maintain that there are no DPRK troops in Russia?" Wood said, referring to North Korea's formal name: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The Russian representative in the 15-member Security Council at the time did not respond to Wood. Moscow has neither denied nor directly confirmed the presence of North Korean troops. After an initial denial, North Korea has since defended the idea of deploying troops as being in line with international law.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. In August this year Ukrainian forces fought their way into the Russian border area of Kursk, where they continue to hold territory.

The U.S., Britain, South Korea, Ukraine and others accuse Russia of violating U.N. resolutions and the founding U.N. Charter with the deployment of troops from North Korea, which has long been under U.N. sanctions aimed at halting Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

Ukraine on Wednesday named three North Korean generals it says are accompanying the Asian nation's troops in Russia.

The U.S. and China also clashed at the Security Council on Thursday over Washington's accusations that Beijing is providing large-scale support for Russia's defense industrial base.

"China cannot credibly claim to be a voice for peace when it enables Russia to wage the largest war in Europe in decades. China's support to Russia is decisive. China's support is prolonging the war," Wood said.

China's deputy U.N. Ambassador Geng Shuang said China has not provided weapons to any party to the conflict in Ukraine and has strictly managed dual-use items - products capable of being used for military as well as civilian purposes - according to global rules. He accused Washington of "peddling anxiety, fabricating enemies and stoking confrontation."

"We oppose the U.S. practice to smear China on the question of Ukraine and to conduct long-arm jurisdiction and sanction Chinese companies and entities on this question," he said.

The United States imposed sanctions on Wednesday on nearly 400 entities and individuals from more than a dozen different countries, including China, to counter evasion of its measures imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The 15-member U.N. Security Council met on Thursday at the request of Russia on Western arms supplies to Ukraine.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Katharine Jackson)