Moscow sees direct weapons supplies to Kiev as red line in relations with Seoul — envoy

  SEOUL: Direct supplies of lethal weapons to Kiev would make Moscow rethink the prospects for its relationship with Seoul, newly appointed ...

 

SEOUL: Direct supplies of lethal weapons to Kiev would make Moscow rethink the prospects for its relationship with Seoul, newly appointed Russian Ambassador to South Korea Georgy Zinovyev said.

"We are ready to consider [South] Korea as a promising partner as long as it does not cross the red line that we have drawn in terms of providing direct supplies of lethal weapons to the Kiev regime. Until that [time when this crucial red line may be crossed], we recognize that no critical damage has been done to the bilateral relationship," he told Russian reporters.

The Washington Post wrote last December that Seoul had indirectly provided more 155 mm ammunition to Kiev than all European nations combined.

"We know that [South] Korea exports large amounts of military products; however, the Korean side informs us that these supplies are in line with the rules of international trade and have end users that do not include the Kiev regime," the Russian envoy noted. He stressed that Moscow was "serious about" Seoul’s assurances that its weapons supplies abroad had designated end users.

"We urge our [South] Korean partners to be as serious about our assurances that, as a responsible member of the international community, we respect the existing restrictions on our productive interactions with North Korea. We don’t build our policy based on so-called 'megaphone diplomacy' and media reports but would prefer to proceed strictly from the facts," the Russian ambassador added.

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