Moscow: Russia warned Saturday it will be forced to take retaliatory measures against South Korea, including "asymmetric" ones, if Seoul participates in an initiative to supply Ukraine with U.S. weapons, a Russian news report said. Russia's TASS news agency reported that Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman at Russia's foreign ministry, issued the warning in response to a report that South Korea is considering joining a framework to purchase U.S. weapons for Ukraine, known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Zakharova stated that such participation by South Korea would cause irreparable damage to bilateral relations and hinder future dialogues on the Korean peninsula. She emphasized that Russia would be compelled to retaliate, potentially employing asymmetric measures, in response to South Korea's involvement in the initiative. Zakharova expressed surprise at reports of Seoul's possible participation, noting that it contradicts South Korea's official stance of not supplying arms to Ukraine.
South Korea's foreign ministry has been in discussions with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) over measures to support Ukraine. The possibility of joining the NATO-led PURL initiative is under consideration, though any involvement by South Korea might be limited to non-lethal equipment purchases. Since the onset of the conflict in 2022, South Korea has only provided non-lethal and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.