North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told Russia’s top diplomat that his country was ready to “unconditionally support” all actions taken by Moscow to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, reported state media on Sunday when the two countries held strategic conversations at a high level.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is on a three-day visit to North Korea, which has given troops and weapons to Russia’s war with Ukraine and promised more military support as Moscow is trying to make progress in the conflict.
Kim met Lavrov in the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, where the two countries’ foreign ministers held their second strategic dialogue, and promised further cooperation under a partnership treaty signed last year, which includes a mutual defense pact.
Kim told Lavrov the steps that the Allies have taken in response to radically developing global geopolitics will contribute much to ensuring peace and security all over the world, North Korea’s state news agency KCNA reported.
“Kim Jong Un confirmed the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) is ready to support and encourage all the measures taken by Russian leadership in terms of tackling the Ukrainian crisis,” KCNA said.
Lavrov held earlier conversations with his North Korean colleague Choe son Hui in Wonsan, and they issued a joint statement that promised support to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity in each other’s countries, KCNA said.
On Saturday, Russian media reported that Lavrov described the two countries’ ties as “an invincible combat brother” in his encounter with Kim and thanked him for the troops deployed to Russia.
The relationship between Russia and North Korea has been elaborated dramatically over the last two years of the war in Ukraine, which started in February 2022, when Pyongyang exposed more than 10,000 troops and weapons to Russia to support Moscow’s military campaign.
Kim’s government has promised to send about 6,000 military engineers and builders to help with reconstruction work in Russia’s Kursk region.
