Russia has warned South Korea against joining Nato’s PURL arms programme for Ukraine, with Maria Zakharova threatening “asymmetric” retaliation and damage to bilateral ties as the Ukraine war nears its fourth anniversary.
Russia on Saturday warned South Korea against supplying weapons to Ukraine under a Nato-backed initiative, as the war between the two former Soviet republics nears its fourth year.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Moscow would view any involvement by Seoul in the programme whether direct or indirect as damaging to prospects for ending the conflict.
“We would like to emphasise again that a possible participation of the Republic of Korea in such supplies in any form, direct or indirect, only postpones the prospects for a settlement of the conflict,” she said.
Zakharova warned that Russia would be compelled to respond, including through asymmetric measures, if South Korea joined the PURL (Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List) mechanism.
Nato created the PURL programme in 2025 after the United States decided to halt the free provision of weapons to Ukraine. Under the arrangement, Kyiv outlines its military requirements, the European Union provides funding, and arms are purchased from the United States before being transferred to Ukraine at no cost.
“This will undoubtedly cause irreparable damage to the relations between Russia and the Republic of Korea and destroy the prospects for restoring a constructive dialogue on the Korean peninsula. In this case, we will be forced to use the right to retaliate, including asymmetric measures,” Zakharova added.
Zakharova noted that Moscow was surprised to hear reports about Seoul’s possible participation in this programme, since such steps would be at odds with the country’s official line of non-participation. She noted that on several occasions, South Korean officials had repeatedly said this, and Moscow appreciates this approach, considering it as a necessary basis for keeping Russian-South Korean relations from further collapse and prerequisites for the future restoration of a bilateral dialogue and cooperation.
Even as peace talks with Ukraine, with the US mediation, continue, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is reported to have presented his three-year plan to fight Russia and take back lost territories. Moscow, which launched its special military operation on February 24, 2022, has dim hopes of a peace agreement as the so-called Coalition of Willing of the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Poland have reiterated their continued backing for Ukraine and want the Kremlin’s strategic defeat.
With inputs from agencies
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