05:46US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller was repeatedly questioned by reporters about exactly where alleged groups of DPRK troops were meant to be in Russia, during the briefing in Washington DC on Monday.
"We believe that Russia – I’m sorry, we believe that North Korea has sent around 10,000 total soldiers to train in eastern Russia," he began. "Over the past several weeks, we have already seen a portion of those soldiers move closer to Ukraine, and we are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Kursk near the border with Ukraine."
Asked "how close... they [have] moved", Miller replied that he didn't have the information. "Russia is a pretty large land area," the journalist tried again. "Moving from Vladivostok to Yekaterinburg is not necessarily getting close to Ukraine."
"When we see further movements and have further updates to offer, we will certainly make those public," Miller added, while the reporter tried again: "But they’re not – they’re not in Kursk… are they halfway there?"
"I’m not going to do a percentage," the spokesperson responded, before admitting that it was 'a good bit more than a mile' and began to laugh.
Meanwhile, the briefing also covered US calls for an investigation into the Georgian elections, and saw Miller dodge questions about whether the administration really took 'issue with the results' themselves or why claims of a 'Russian operation' - as alleged by the pro-EU Georgian president - were not included in its own assessment.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed DPRK troops were already "already being used on our territory" by Russia. The Pentagon stated that it had information about '10,000' troops from the DPRK were in Russia, while the White House previously said that it did not know exactly what they were doing there. On Monday NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also claimed he could 'confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia'.
On Friday, the DPRK stated that any deployment of troops into Russia 'would conform' with international law, but stopped short of confirming one. During the final BRICS Summit press briefing on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked about 'satellite images' which one reporter claimed were "said to show the DPRK troops here in Russia". "Photos are a serious matter," Putin replied. "If there are images, they reflect something."
'Russia is pretty big... are they halfway there?' - State Dept chaos, laughter over location of alleged 'DPRK troops'
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller was repeatedly questioned by reporters about exactly where alleged groups of DPRK troops were meant to be in Russia, during the briefing in Washington DC on Monday.
"We believe that Russia – I’m sorry, we believe that North Korea has sent around 10,000 total soldiers to train in eastern Russia," he began. "Over the past several weeks, we have already seen a portion of those soldiers move closer to Ukraine, and we are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Kursk near the border with Ukraine."
Asked "how close... they [have] moved", Miller replied that he didn't have the information. "Russia is a pretty large land area," the journalist tried again. "Moving from Vladivostok to Yekaterinburg is not necessarily getting close to Ukraine."
"When we see further movements and have further updates to offer, we will certainly make those public," Miller added, while the reporter tried again: "But they’re not – they’re not in Kursk… are they halfway there?"
"I’m not going to do a percentage," the spokesperson responded, before admitting that it was 'a good bit more than a mile' and began to laugh.
Meanwhile, the briefing also covered US calls for an investigation into the Georgian elections, and saw Miller dodge questions about whether the administration really took 'issue with the results' themselves or why claims of a 'Russian operation' - as alleged by the pro-EU Georgian president - were not included in its own assessment.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed DPRK troops were already "already being used on our territory" by Russia. The Pentagon stated that it had information about '10,000' troops from the DPRK were in Russia, while the White House previously said that it did not know exactly what they were doing there. On Monday NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also claimed he could 'confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia'.
On Friday, the DPRK stated that any deployment of troops into Russia 'would conform' with international law, but stopped short of confirming one. During the final BRICS Summit press briefing on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked about 'satellite images' which one reporter claimed were "said to show the DPRK troops here in Russia". "Photos are a serious matter," Putin replied. "If there are images, they reflect something."
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller was repeatedly questioned by reporters about exactly where alleged groups of DPRK troops were meant to be in Russia, during the briefing in Washington DC on Monday.
"We believe that Russia – I’m sorry, we believe that North Korea has sent around 10,000 total soldiers to train in eastern Russia," he began. "Over the past several weeks, we have already seen a portion of those soldiers move closer to Ukraine, and we are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Kursk near the border with Ukraine."
Asked "how close... they [have] moved", Miller replied that he didn't have the information. "Russia is a pretty large land area," the journalist tried again. "Moving from Vladivostok to Yekaterinburg is not necessarily getting close to Ukraine."
"When we see further movements and have further updates to offer, we will certainly make those public," Miller added, while the reporter tried again: "But they’re not – they’re not in Kursk… are they halfway there?"
"I’m not going to do a percentage," the spokesperson responded, before admitting that it was 'a good bit more than a mile' and began to laugh.
Meanwhile, the briefing also covered US calls for an investigation into the Georgian elections, and saw Miller dodge questions about whether the administration really took 'issue with the results' themselves or why claims of a 'Russian operation' - as alleged by the pro-EU Georgian president - were not included in its own assessment.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed DPRK troops were already "already being used on our territory" by Russia. The Pentagon stated that it had information about '10,000' troops from the DPRK were in Russia, while the White House previously said that it did not know exactly what they were doing there. On Monday NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also claimed he could 'confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia'.
On Friday, the DPRK stated that any deployment of troops into Russia 'would conform' with international law, but stopped short of confirming one. During the final BRICS Summit press briefing on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked about 'satellite images' which one reporter claimed were "said to show the DPRK troops here in Russia". "Photos are a serious matter," Putin replied. "If there are images, they reflect something."