SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has denied American claims that it’s transport artillery shells and ammunition to Russia to be used in its warfare towards Ukraine, and on Tuesday accused the United States of mendacity.

The denial follows dozens of weapons checks by North Korea, together with short-range missiles which might be seemingly nuclear-capable and an intercontinental ballistic missile that would goal the U.S. mainland. Pyongyang stated it was testing the missiles and artillery so it may “mercilessly” strike key South Korean and U.S. targets if it selected to.

North Korea has been cozying up to conventional ally Russia in recent times and even hinted at sending staff to assist rebuild Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine. The United States has accused North Korea, one of the crucial weaponized international locations on the earth, of supplying Soviet-era ammunition corresponding to artillery shells, to replenish Russian stockpiles which have been depleted within the Ukraine.

Last week, Russia sent North Korean chief Kim Jong Un a trainload of 30 thoroughbred horses, opening the border with its neighbor for the primary time in 2 1/2 years. Kim is an avid horseman and state media have typically pictured him galloping on snowy mountain trails astride a white charger. The horses, Orlov trotters, are prized in Russia.

Spokespeople of Russia’s Far Eastern Railway instructed the state-run information company Nov. 2 that the primary prepare headed to North Korea with the 30 horses and stated the following prepare was to carry drugs.

Experts say North Korea could also be looking for Russian gas and likewise expertise transfers and provides wanted to advance its navy capabilities as it pursues extra subtle weapons programs.

In September, North Korea restarted its freight prepare service with China, its greatest buying and selling accomplice, ending a five-month hiatus.

Last week, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby accused North Korea of covertly supplying a “significant number” of ammunition shipments to Russia. He stated the United States believes North Korea was making an attempt to obscure the switch route by making it seem the weapons had been being sent to international locations within the Middle East or North Africa.

“We regard such moves of the U.S. as part of its hostile attempt to tarnish the image of (North Korea) in the international arena,” an unidentified vice director at the North Korean ministry’s military foreign affairs office said in a statement carried by state media.

“We once again make clear that we have never had ‘arms dealings’ with Russia and that we have no plan to do so in the future,” the vice director stated.

In September, U.S. officials confirmed a newly declassified U.S. intelligence finding that Russia was in the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea. North Korea later dismissed that report, calling on Washington to stop making “reckless remarks” and to “keep its mouth shut.”

On Nov. 2, Kirby said the U.S. has “an idea” of which country or countries the North may funnel the weapons through but wouldn’t specify. He said the North Korean shipments are “not going to change the course of the war,” citing Western efforts to resupply the Ukrainian military.

Slapped by international sanctions and export controls, Russia in August bought Iranian-made drones that U.S. officials said had technical problems. For Russia, experts say North Korea is likely another good option for its ammunitions supply, because the North keeps a significant stockpile of shells, many of them copies of Soviet-era ones.

Even as most of Europe and the West has pulled away, North Korea has pushed to boost relations with Russia, blaming the U.S. for the crisis and decrying the West’s “hegemonic policy” as justifying military action by Russia in Ukraine to protect itself. In July, North Korea became the only nation aside from Russia and Syria to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk territories as independent.

North Korea’s possible arms supply to Russia would be a violation of U.N. resolutions that ban the North from trading weapons with other countries. But it’s unlikely for North Korea to receive fresh sanctions for that because of a division at the U.N. Security Council over America’s confrontations with Russia regarding its war in Ukraine and its separate strategic competitions with China.

Earlier this year, Russia and China already vetoed a U.S.-led attempt to toughen sanctions on North Korea over its series of ballistic missile tests that are banned by multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Some observers say North Korea has also been using the Russian aggression in Ukraine as a window to ramp up weapons testing activity and dial up pressure on the United States and South Korea. Last week, the North test-fired dozens of missiles in response to large-scale U.S.-South Korea aerial drills that Pyongyang views as a rehearsal for a potential invasion.

In a separate statement published Tuesday by state media, a senior North Korean diplomat criticized U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ recent condemnation of North Korea’s missile launch barrage, calling him a “mouthpiece” of the U.S. government.

“The U.N. secretary general is echoing what the White House and the State Department say as if he were their mouthpiece, which is deplorable,” said Kim Son Gyong, vice minister for international organizations at the North Korean Foreign Ministry.

Kim said that Guterres’ “unfair and prejudiced behavior” has contributed to the worsening tensions in the region.

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