Putin's State Visit: Russia and North Korea Sign Landmark Strategic Pact

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement during summit-level talks in Pyongyang on Wednesday.

According to Putin, the new pact implies mutual assistance if any party faced a foreign attack.

The North Korean leader described the signing of the pact as an "important event" and one which would accelerate the formation of a "multipolar world order".

"Thanks to the conclusion of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement between North Korea and Russia, relations between our two countries have embarked on the path of further promising and prosperous development to achieve the progress of the two countries and enhance the well-being of their peoples through active cooperation in various fields, including politics, economy, culture and military affairs," Kim told Putin at the meeting.

He described the new pact as being purely "defensive" in nature.

Additionally, Kim committed support to Russia in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

The Russian president arrived in Pyongyang for a two-day state visit late on Tuesday evening. This is his first trip to the country since 2000.

Putin Offers Support to Eliminate Threat of Conflict on Korean Peninsula

The Russian president didn’t rule out the possibility of bolstering military-technical cooperation with Pyongyang under the signed pact.

Putin said that security issues and the international situation figured prominently during the talks.

Putin offered his support for efforts to "eliminate the threat of conflict" on the Korean Peninsula, amid continued Western pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.

The president asserted that he would be ready to assist in forming a "long-term peace plan" to resolve the Korean conflict.

Meantime, during the meeting, Putin condemned the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies over the supply of high-precision weapons systems and aircraft to Ukrainian forces for strikes inside the Russian territory.

"This is not just a statement, it is already happening, and all this is a gross violation of the restrictions accepted by Western countries within the framework of various international obligations," the Russian president said.

Both leaders stressed that they would continue to jointly oppose the sanctions imposed by Western countries on both the DPRK and Russia.

"We will continue to oppose the very practice of sanctions strangulation as a tool that the West is accustomed to using in order to maintain its hegemony in politics, economics and other areas," Putin remarked.

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