If North Korea were to send troops to Ukraine to fight on Russia's behalf it would significantly escalate the conflict, NATO Chief Mark Rutte said on social media platform X on Monday.

North Korean troops joining Russia in Ukraine “would mark a significant escalation,” the NATO secretary-general said Monday. Mark Rutte said on X that he spoke with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol about the NATO-Seoul partnership,

"North Korea sending troops to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine would mark a significant escalation," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on social media following a conversation with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

South Korea warns it could consider supplying weapons to Ukraine in response to North Korea allegedly dispatching troops to Russia

South Korea has summoned the Russian ambassador to demand the immediate pullout of North Korean troops allegedly deployed in Russia

North Korea’s supply of munitions has already been critical to the Russian war effort. Now, there are growing fears that it is sending troops as well.

"We can be certain [North Korea] will ask for a high price from Russia in return," the British ambassador to the United Nations claimed.

A North Korean representative to the United Nations denied reports that Pyongyang had dispatched thousands of troops to aid Russia in its war against Ukraine, calling the claims "groundless."