Putin Praises Ally Support For Ukraine Invasion

Ahead of his visit to North Korea later on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Pyongyang “for firmly supporting” its war with Ukraine”. His visit to the country is aimed at boosting ties between the nuclear-armed allies, AFP reported. 

Putin wrote an article published by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), where he stated that he “highly appreciated that the DPRK (North Korea) is firmly supporting” the special military operations that are being conducted in Ukraine. The Russian president stated in the article that the two countries were developing a “many-sided partnership”, and “maintaining the common line and stand at the UN.”

Putin is visiting the most isolated nation on Earth in an attempt to gather support for his military campaign against Ukraine, which was initiated in February 2022. The trip “will put bilateral cooperation onto a higher level with our joint efforts and this will contribute to developing reciprocal and equal cooperation between Russia and the DPRK”, the Russian leader wrote, AFP reported.

Russia and North Korea have been historical allies since the latter’s founding following the Second World War. Moscow and Pyongyang have drawn ever closer since the invasion in 2022, as Putin has become increasingly isolated, the report said. North Korea, meanwhile, is also something of an international pariah over its controversial weapons programme, which has drawn many UN sanctions.

In 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare overseas trip on his bulletproof train to meet Putin at a Russian spaceport.

‘Violating Sanctions’

Seoul, Washington and Kyiv have claimed that North Korea is shipping weapons to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine, violating multiple United Nations sanctions, in return for technical help with its nascent satellite programme. North Korea has called these claims “absurd” and further thanked Russia for using its UN veto in March to effectively end monitoring of sanctions violations, just when UN experts were about to probe alleged arms transfers. 

Citing a Kremlin aide, Russian agencies reported on Monday that the two leaders will sign “important documents” during Putin’s visit. This may include a “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty”, which will outline future cooperation and address “security issues”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying by state-run Russian news agencies. Experts have been quoted as saying that, in reality, any new agreements will primarily focus on enhancing the two countries’ defence cooperation.