On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin embarks on an official visit to Vietnam, one day after he and Kim Jong Un of North Korea inked a mutual defense pact and the latter pledged his “full support” for Ukraine.
At a summit in Pyongyang, Putin and Kim signed a strategic agreement that included a promise to defend one another in the event of an attack.
North Korea’s agreement to supply Russia with ammunition and missiles for its war in Ukraine has stoked fears of more supplies, according to Washington and its allies.
Growing links between North Korea and Russia are “of great concern,” according to the US State Department, and Pyongyang is being accused by a top Ukrainian official of helping Moscow carry out the “mass murder of Ukrainians.”
Making his first visit to the isolated North in 24 years on Wednesday, Putin said he did not rule out “military-technical cooperation” with Pyongyang, which like Moscow is under heavy international sanctions.
“Today, we are fighting together against the hegemonism and neo-colonial practices of the United States and its satellites,” Putin said.
Since North Korea’s establishment following World War II, the two nations have been allies, and their relationship has grown even closer after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, isolating Putin on the international front.
In response to the conflict in Ukraine, which has led to many UN sanctions against Moscow, Kim referred to Putin as the “dearest friend of the Korean people” and promised him his “full support and solidarity”.
In light of his prohibited weapons programs, Putin congratulated his host, whose nation has been under to UN sanctions since 2006. Moscow expressed gratitude for the “consistent and unwavering” assistance.
Putin called for a review of UN sanctions on North Korea and said the two countries would not submit to Western “blackmail”.
Reacting to the Pyongyang visit, a US State Department spokesperson said no country should “give Mr Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression against Ukraine”.
“Deepening cooperation between Russia and the DPRK is a trend that should be of great concern to anyone interested in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” the spokesperson said.
Senior advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak, told AFP that North Korea was aiding Russia in its “mass murder of Ukrainians” and demanded further international isolation for both nations.
