According to the announcement of the US Treasury, Ashot Mkrtychev, a native of Azerbaijan, who has Slovak citizenship, violated the sanctions imposed by Washington against the DPRK.

According to the report, at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, Mkrtychev, together with some representatives of North Korea, conducted negotiations with Russian representatives about the supply of about 20 types of weapons from the DPRK to Russia in exchange for a passenger plane and raw materials.

It is claimed that high-ranking Russian representatives agreed to conclude the deal.

It is also claimed that Mkrtychev, together with a Russian representative, dealt with the issue of the delivery of the plane to the DPRK.



According to the report, Russia has already lost about 9,000 units of military equipment since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and is now looking for opportunities to replenish its reserves.

"Schemes similar to the one in question in the Mkrtychev case show that Putin's last hope remains suppliers like Iran and North Korea," said US Treasury Secretary Janet

Ellen

.

The United States has previously claimed that Pyongyang supplies Russia with ammunition, including the Wagner PMC.

The DPRK authorities denied this.

Yevgeny Prigozhin,

the creator and sponsor of the "Wagner" PMC,

called the information about the supply of weapons from North Korea "rumors and speculation."



The representative of the US National Security Council, John Kirby, said on Thursday that Washington has information that Russia has been negotiating the supply of weapons and ammunition with North Korea in exchange for food supplies.



Ashot Mkrtychev was convicted in Slovakia by a court of first instance in 2009 on charges of organizing contract murder.

Then the Slovak media called him a "former arms dealer".

The verdict, however, never became final.

Now Mkrtychev owns one company in Slovakia with a charter capital of 5,000 euros.