The United States respects the “sovereign decisions” of countries on whether to provide weapons support to Ukraine, a White House official said Tuesday when asked if the U.S. will request such aid from South Korea.
John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, was responding to a question about whether U.S. President Joe Biden will have a message for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol regarding providing further aid to Ukraine, including ammunition, during their summit at the White House on Wednesday.
“We are grateful for the continued support that the Republic of Korea provides to Ukraine — more than US$200 million thus far, humanitarian assistance and non-lethal capabilities for the Ukrainian armed forces,” Kirby said during a briefing with South Korean reporters.
“Every nation has to decide for itself whether or not it will support Ukraine and to what degree it’s willing to support Ukraine. Some nations provide advanced legal capabilities, some nations do not. We respect those sovereign decisions,” he said.
Yoon signaled a shift in South Korea’s policy of providing only non-lethal aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia, saying in an interview with Reuters published last week that it might be difficult to insist only on humanitarian or financial assistance if Ukraine comes under a large-scale attack on civilians.
“It is up to the elected leadership in those countries and the people of those countries to determine how much support they’re willing to give to Ukraine,” Kirby said. “We absolutely have every expectation that the war in Ukraine will be discussed as a part of this state visit. But we certainly would not speak for President Yoon and for any additional support he may or may not be willing to provide.”
Yoon is currently on a six-day state visit to the U.S., which will include the summit with Biden and various events to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the bilateral alliance.
Kirby said the U.S. is especially appreciative of Yoon’s efforts to improve South Korea’s relationship with Japan.
Yoon held a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo last month in the wake of his administration’s decision to compensate Korean victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor without asking for contributions from Japanese companies.
“It is very much in keeping with President Biden’s desire to improve our trilateral relationships,” Kirby said. “These are two treaty allies, who we respect and admire, whose security commitments we will absolutely abide by. And to see that the relationship between the Republic and Japan growing closer is a good thing, again, not just for the region but for the world, and we applaud and we thank President Yoon for his significant role in improving those relations.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency