President Vladimir Putin did not deny U.S. claims that North Korea had sent troops to Russia but said on Thursday it is up to Moscow how to run its mutual defence clause with Pyongyang and accused the West of escalating the Ukraine war.

The first group of North Korean troops have been sent to the Russian region of Kursk where some have tried to desert, according to reports. Ukraine launched an incursion into the Russian region on August 6 and Putin is said to be planning to use the North Korean soldiers in his fight to recapture territory.

If there are images they are a reflection of something,’ he said in a tongue-in-cheek answer to whether Pyongyang had sent troops to help with Russia’s war in Ukraine.