North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday expressed “full support” for Russia’s war in Ukraine and pledged to strengthen strategic cooperation with Moscow as he held summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang amid deepening concerns about their military cooperation.
Kim said relations between the two countries are “entering a new period of prosperity”, as he praised Russia’s role in the global strategic balance and vowed to “strengthen strategic cooperation” with Moscow, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
“The government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea expresses its full support and solidarity with the Russian government, Army and people in conducting the special military operation in Ukraine to protect sovereignty, security interests, and territorial integrity,” Kim was quoted as saying.
Putin expressed gratitude to Kim for Pyongyang’s support for Moscow’s policy on Ukraine and also voiced hope to hold the next summit with Kim in Moscow, TASS reported.
After the summit, Putin and Kim signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty” to bolster bilateral ties, Russian news reports said, without disclosing details.
The Russian leader earlier said a new “fundamental document” has been prepared to serve as a basis for relations between the two countries, Yonhap news agency reported.
The two leaders met again nine months after they held a summit in Russia’s Far East last September, as Russia, under international sanctions over its war with Ukraine, has been bolstering military and other cooperation with North Korea.
North Korea and the former Soviet Union signed a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance in 1961. The treaty included a provision for so-called automatic military intervention, under which if one side is under an armed attack, the other provides military troops and other aid without hesitation.