MOSCOW - Seoul's drift toward NATO could seriously damage ties with Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko warned in an interview with TASS on Saturday.

Moscow views South Korea's growing alignment with NATO with concern, said Rudenko, citing the country's facilitating rearmament for NATO states in supplying weapons to Kyiv.

"We consistently convey to the South Korean side through various channels Russia's principled position on the unacceptability of its involvement in direct or indirect transfers of lethal weapons to the Kyiv regime," he said. "Otherwise, bilateral relations could be seriously damaged, and we will be forced to take retaliatory measures."

"Despite the significant degradation of political dialogue and practical cooperation between Russia and South Korea due to the unfriendly actions of the previous authorities of that country, we have managed to keep our relations from complete collapse," Rudenko said.

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Noting a marked softening in the rhetoric of the current South Korean administration toward Russia, he said Seoul's declarations of good intentions have not yet been matched by concrete steps to normalize trade and economic relations.