The number of North Korean troops stationed inside Russia could grow to 100,000, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday. Kyiv and its Western allies say North Korea has supplied Russia with weaponry and troops to bolster its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with the leader of a Russian delegation in Pyongyang and called for deepening trade, economic and scientific ties between the two countries, state media reported Tuesday.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky sounded the alarm about North Korea’s growing military role in Russia, saying Kim Jong Un’s troops are learning battlefield lessons that will pose a challenge for the United States and its Asian allies.