The Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and about 50 countries, including the United States, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union, issued a joint statement on the transfer of ballistic missiles between the DPRK and Russia. The text of the statement was published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on Tuesday evening.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) export and Russia’s procurement of DPRK ballistic missiles, as well as Russia’s use of these missiles against Ukraine on December 30, 2023, and January 2, 2024. The transfer of these weapons increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, supports Russia’s war of aggression, and undermines the global non-proliferation regime. Russia’s use of DPRK ballistic missiles in Ukraine also provides valuable technical and military insights to the DPRK. We are deeply concerned about the security implications that this cooperation has in Europe, on the Korean Peninsula, across the Indo-Pacific region, and around the world,” the statement reads.

The ministers stressed that the governments of their countries “stand together in resolute opposition to arms transfers between the DPRK and Russia.”

“The transfer of ballistic missiles, along with any other arms and related materiel, from the DPRK to Russia flagrantly violates multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs) – namely, resolution 1718 (2006), resolution 1874 (2009), and resolution 2270 (2016) – that Russia itself supported. We are closely monitoring what Russia provides to the DPRK in return for these weapons exports,” the text says.

The Foreign ministers also called on the DPRK and Russia to comply with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and immediately cease all actions that violate them.

“We urge all UN Member States, including all members of the United Nations Security Council, to join us in condemning Russia and the DPRK’s flagrant UNSCR violations. As Russia launches waves of missiles and drones against the Ukrainian people, we will continue to stand together in support of Ukraine. We further call on the DPRK to respond to the numerous and genuine offers to return to diplomacy, the only path to an enduring peace on the Korean Peninsula,” the joint statement says.