Putin travels to North Korea and thanks for support in his war with Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to North Korea on Tuesday to seal a strategic alliance with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, one of the leaders who has most strongly supported the Kremlin in its war with Ukraine.

“We expect good results from the Russian president’s visit to North Korea. The visit is well prepared. There will be results,” Sergei Naryshkin, head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), told TASS.

Putin will make his first visit to North Korea on June 18 and 19 since arriving at the Kremlin in 2000, when Kim Jong-il, the father of the current leader who died in 2011, was in power.

The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin would pay a “friendly state visit” to Pyongyang at the invitation of the North Korean leader, who had urged him to come to his country during their historic meeting in the Russian Far East in September 2023.

Ushakov stressed that Putin and Kim will meet face to face, but meetings will also be held in different formats, as the Russian delegation includes Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, among other senior government officials and state corporations such as the Roscosmos space agency.

Strategic alliance

The Kremlin said that, although it is still in the preparation stage, Moscow and Pyongyang hope to sign during the visit a strategic partnership agreement that will replace those signed in 1961, 2000 and 2001.

The document will take into account “all universal principles of international law, will not be confrontational in nature, will not be directed against any country and will be aimed at ensuring greater stability in the Northeast Asia region,” he said.

Ushakov stressed that Kim and Putin will pay special attention to the international agenda, as the positions of both countries on current foreign policy issues “are very close or completely coincide.”

The two leaders will also discuss bilateral issues, from energy to the economy, transport, agriculture, international cooperation and also “security issues.”

“In 2023, according to our statistics, trade turnover will have increased ninefold, to $34.4 million,” he said.

North Korean support for Russian military campaign

Putin’s adviser said Moscow appreciates Pyongyang’s understanding of the “real reasons for the Ukrainian crisis” and its “unwavering support” for the special military operation.

“The Russian side appreciates Pyongyang’s recognition of the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) and the results of the referendums on the accession of both of them and of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions to Russia,” the statement said.

The two countries have strengthened their cooperation in recent years, especially in the defense sector, as evidenced by the jubilant reception given to former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu when he visited North Korea in July 2023.

According to Western powers, Pyongyang has transferred thousands of containers of weapons that the Russian army has used against Ukraine during this period and, in exchange, it is believed that Moscow advised the North Korean regime to launch spy satellites, actions that constitute a violation of UN sanctions against North Korea.