The White House has accused North Korea of arming the Russian private military company Wagner Group, which has deployed its mercenaries in Ukraine.
John Kirby, the US national security adviser, told the FT that North Korean deliveries - rockets and missiles - began last November but had no significant impact on the course of the war.
Kirby said that “Due to our sanctions and export controls, Wagner is looking for arms suppliers to support its military operations in Ukraine. He then added that “We can confirm with certainty that North Korea has completed an initial arms delivery to Wagner".
La Wagner, Led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has become increasingly prominent in the Kremlin's offensive. Prigozhin, dubbed Putin's "chef" because the two men became close when Prigozhin ran a catering company, is a leading critic of Russia's war strategy.
The Biden administration is trying to stem the group of mercenaries that are roaming halfway around the world at the hands of the Kremlin. Additional export restrictions were passed on Wednesday to prevent them from accessing equipment made with US technologies. Wagner had previously been added to the US trade blacklist in 2017.
Last September, American intelligence declassified some reports highlighting the Kremlin's traffic with North Korea in reference to the purchase of "millions of rockets and artillery shells".
Ties between Moscow and Pyongyang have intensified since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and North Korea has been quick to express its support for the invasion, attributing the war to "hegemonic policy” and the “arrogance” of the United States.