Zelenskyy Urges China to Intervene with North Korea Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on China on Friday to influence North Korea, stressing Beijing’s responsibility to prevent further escalation of the war in Ukraine.
“The Korean people should not lose their lives in battles in Europe. This is something Korea’s neighbors, especially China, can influence,” Zelenskyy said in an evening address on X after a meeting with the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief to discuss frontline developments.
He urged China to back its statements about de-escalation with action by pressuring Pyongyang.
Zelenskyy highlighted intense fighting in the Donetsk region, along with ongoing conflicts in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Kharkiv oblasts. He also raised concerns about reports of North Korean military personnel fighting alongside Russian forces in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
“They are suffering heavy losses, and it’s evident that neither the Russian military nor the North Korean enforcers prioritize the survival of these troops. There are even cases where their own forces execute wounded soldiers to prevent their capture,” Zelenskyy revealed.
The Ukrainian president shared that Ukrainian forces recently captured several wounded North Korean soldiers who could not be saved. “This reflects the madness dictatorships are capable of,” he remarked.
