Putin is watching the reaction of the West to the involvement of North Korean troops — a major escalation of the conflict — and so far, nothing has been done. As a result of this failing, we can be confident that Putin will only increase this contingent as time moves on.
The US remains concerned about North Korean troop deployments near Ukraine's borders and will remain in close contact with Ukraine to ensure that this threat is responded to accordingly. Should North Koreans become belligerents in the war, there will be nothing to stop Ukraine attacking them with US weapons.
Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday condemned allies for, as he described, giving "zero" response to North Korea's decision to send troops to Russia.
In an interview with South Korea's KBS television channel, Zelenskyy said that Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin "is checking the reaction of the West" to the move, adding: "I believe that after all these reactions, Putin will ... increase the contingent ... The reaction that is there today is nothing."