The upper house of Russian parliament on Wednesday ratified a treaty with North Korea envisioning mutual military assistance, a move that comes as the U.S. has confirmed the deployment of 10,000 North Korean troops to Russia.

Top South Korean and European Union officials have strongly condemned North Korea’s reported troop dispatch to Russia

The North Koreans are “very likely to ask” Moscow for advanced technology related to nuclear weapons in exchange for deploying troops to help Russia in its war against Ukraine, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun said at the Pentagon on Wednesday.