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Russian envoy terms arms supplies to Kiev as red line in Moscow’s relations with Seoul

According to Andrey Kulik, cooperation between the two countries has been progressing for over 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1990, but since the launch of Russia’s special military operation, Seoul has chosen the side of the West, thus causing "much damage" to bilateral ties

SEOUL, May 10. /TASS/. Moscow would view any weapons supplies made by Seoul to Kiev as an unacceptable step that would serve to ruin the South Korean-Russian bilateral relationship, Russian Ambassador to South Korea Andrey Kulik said in an interview with the Aju Business Daily, published on Wednesday.

"There has been a lot of talk about the South Korean government considering the possibility of supplying weapons under US pressure. Weapons supplies to Ukraine represent a bright red line for us," the diplomat stressed. He repeated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that such a decision would inevitably ruin bilateral relations.

"If South Korea continues to fully follow only the US and its allies, this will create a negative trend in relations between our countries. The future of our relations depends on whether the South Korean government follows the US to the hilt in terms of its Russia policy," he noted.

According to Kulik, cooperation between the two countries has been progressing for over 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1990, but since the launch of Russia’s special military operation, Seoul has chosen the side of the West, thus causing "much damage" to bilateral ties. "Unfortunately, ties and exchanges between Russia and South Korea have been almost completely suspended, as well as economic cooperation," the newspaper quoted the ambassador as saying.

The Russian envoy also explained that it was Western countries’ policy of sanctions that had created the "never-before-seen difficulties" that South Korean companies were facing in Russia. "The difficulties that foreign companies, including South Korean ones, are facing in Russia are the result of the West’s sanctions on Russia, rather than the Russian government’s actions. Washington is their root cause, not Moscow," Kulik said.

In addition, he reiterated Russia’s consistent support for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.