The Russian embassy in the Republic of Korea has reminded of the possible negative consequences of transferring lethal weapons to Ukraine. The move would ruin bilateral relations, Russian diplomats warned on Wednesday.
“The South Korean side is well aware of the inevitable negative consequences of Seoul’s eventual decision to join the group of “military sponsors” of the Kiev regime and supply it with lethal weapons. Such a step would finally destroy Russian-Korean relations, which have been developing constructively over the past three decades,” the diplomatic mission said. The diplomats posted the message on their Telegram channel and indicated that the commentary was prepared for South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
The embassy added that it was “closely monitoring” the Republic of Korea’s position on the issue. In addition, the diplomats said the decision to supply lethal weapons would cause “negative consequences” for security co-operation with Moscow on the Korean Peninsula. “We count on the responsible approach of the leadership of the Republic of Korea,” the diplomatic mission said.
The embassy reiterated that the weapons transferred by the “collective West” are used to destroy “the peaceful population of the DNR, LNR, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions, including women and children.” Western weapons are used in other regional conflicts due to corruption in Ukraine and fall into the hands of organised crime, terrorists and extremists, the embassy said.
Korean President Yun Seok-yol, in an interview with Reuters published on Wednesday, did not rule out that Seoul could go ahead with arms supplies to Ukraine if there was a serious threat to Ukrainian civilians or if the laws of war were grossly “violated.”