North Korea “has not exported weapons or ammunition to Russia” and has “no plans” to do so in the future, a DPRK military official said in a statement released by state media Thursday.

The denial appears to be in response to U.S. assessments earlier this month that Russia “has approached North Korea to request ammunition” and is “in the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea for use in Ukraine.”

The Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) released the statement by an unnamed vice director of the defense ministry “General Bureau of Equipment” through international wire