SEOUL, April 27. /TASS/. The presidents of the Republic of Korea and the United States, Yoon Suk-yeol and Joe Biden, did not discuss South Korean weapons supplies to Ukraine during their talks in Washington, the Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday, citing a South Korean presidential official.
"The Ukraine issue was mentioned very briefly. We talked about how we're increasing humanitarian aid, financial contributions and non-military support while watching the war conditions in Ukraine," the official said. According to him, Seoul has maintained a policy of sending non-lethal aid only to Kiev.
"We said we would take part in reconstruction discussions in cooperation with the United States, since Ukraine is showing an interest. Aside from that, there was no discussion of direct military support," he added.
Prior to the summit, the South Korean leader told NBC that he was not under pressure from Washington to step up aid to Ukraine and that his government was closely monitoring the situation.
The US and South Korean leaders held talks at the White House on Wednesday. Following the summit, the two presidents unveiled a declaration, under which South Korea affirmed its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, while the US pledged to strengthen strategic deployments on the Korean Peninsula.
The declaration also creates a nuclear consultative group that will hold regular meetings to consult on nuclear and strategic planning issues.