North Korea's Kim voices ‘unconditional' support for Russia in Ukraine
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov is on a three-day visit to North Korea, which has provided troops and arms for Russia's war on Ukraine and pledged more military support as Moscow tries to make advances in the conflict.
Kim met Lavrov in the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, where Lavrov and his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, held their second strategic dialogue, pledging further cooperation under a partnership treaty signed last year that includes a mutual defence pact.
Kim told Lavrov the steps taken by the allies in response to radically evolving global geopolitics would contribute greatly to securing peace and security around the world, North Korea's state news agency KCNA reported.
'Kim Jong Un reaffirmed the DPRK is ready to unconditionally support and encourage all the measures taken by the Russian leadership as regards the tackling of the root cause of the Ukrainian crisis,' KCNA said, using the acronym for the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a video on Telegram of the two men shaking hands and greeting each other with a hug.
The North Korean leader also expressed a 'firm belief that the Russian army and people would surely win victory in accomplishing the sacred cause of defending the dignity and basic interests of the country'.
The two men otherwise discussed 'important matters for faithfully implementing the agreements made at the historic DPRK-Russia summit talks in June 2024', KCNA said.
Relations between Russia and North Korea have deepened dramatically during the last two years of the war in Ukraine, which started with Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022, with Pyongyang deploying more than 10,000 troops and arms to back Moscow.
The two heavily sanctioned nations signed a military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korea.
Lavrov told Kim that Putin 'hopes for continued direct contacts in the very near future', according to the Russian state news agency TASS.
Ahead of the visit, Russia announced that it would begin twice-a-week flights between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Lavrov lauded Wonsan as 'a good tourist attraction', adding: 'We hope it will be popular not only with local citizens, but also with Russians.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
35 minutes ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump announces new weapons for Ukraine, threatens tariffs on Russia
Trump announces new weapons for Ukraine, threatens tariffs on Russia NewsFeed Saying he was 'very unhappy' with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump announced a shipment of weapons for Ukraine while threatening tariffs on Russia and its trading partners. Video Duration 00 minutes 47 seconds 00:47 Video Duration 03 minutes 10 seconds 03:10 Video Duration 00 minutes 39 seconds 00:39 Video Duration 02 minutes 42 seconds 02:42 Video Duration 02 minutes 30 seconds 02:30 Video Duration 00 minutes 41 seconds 00:41 Video Duration 01 minutes 40 seconds 01:40
Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump threatens Russia with ‘severe' tariffs, announces Ukraine arms deal
United States President Donald Trump has confirmed the US will send Ukraine more weapons and has threatened to levy steep tariffs on Russia amid his growing frustration over Russia's refusal to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. Speaking at the White House on Monday during a meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte, Trump said the US would be sending 'billions' of dollars in military equipment, including Patriot air defence systems and other missiles. These weapons, said Trump, will be paid for by NATO members. 'In a nutshell, we're going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they'll be sent to NATO,' said Trump. He added that if Russian President Vladimir Putin fails to sign a peace deal with Ukraine, he will impose 'very severe tariffs' in 50 days, including secondary tariffs of 100 percent. Trump took office with a promise to end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours, and Putin's refusal to ink a peace agreement has increasingly frustrated the US president. While Russia has agreed to brief pauses in fighting, it has refused to accept an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, saying that the proposal would give Kyiv a chance to remobilise its troops and rearm. That has strained the close relationship between Putin and Trump, who last week accused the Russian leader of throwing a lot of 'b******' at the US. Rutte commended Trump's announcement, saying: 'It will mean that Ukraine can get its hands on really massive numbers of military equipment, both for air defence, but also missiles, ammunition, etc. 'If I was Vladimir Putin today, and hear you speaking about what you were planning to do in 50 days, and this announcement, I would reconsider whether I should not take negotiations about Ukraine more seriously than I was doing at the moment.' Trump said he would be pulling Patriot air defence systems from around the world to be sold to NATO countries and distributed by the defence bloc, but he did not say whether the US would also be sending long-range rockets and other offensive weapons. During the press conference, Trump repeatedly expressed his frustration with Putin. 'My conversations with him are always very pleasant … I go home, I tell the first lady: 'I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation'. She said: 'Oh, really, another city was just hit'.' Trump said that, unlike his predecessors, he wasn't 'fooled' by Putin but that ultimately, talk doesn't talk. It's got to be action … He knows the deal. He knows what a fair deal is.' Melinda Haring, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, said Trump's about-face came after months of Putin's continued onslaught. 'Trump gave Putin six months. He stuck his neck out, and he said that he was going to make peace. And he also felt like Putin was stringing him along. In addition to those reasons, there were people that were close to the president showing him pictures of Ukraine, of the cities and children that are being harmed every single night,' she said. In Kyiv, Ukrainians are cautiously viewing the announcement as a strong message of support, despite the many unknown details. 'If Patriot batteries really do make their way to Ukraine, then that is going to go a long way to protecting the skies over this country, as it tries to endure almost nightly massive barrages of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones,' said Al Jazeera's Rory Challands. The Kremlin responded by noting that the West had long provided weapons and equipment to Ukraine and said dialogue remained important to Moscow. But within Russian society, the US-NATO announcement was greeted with disappointment, said Al Jazeera's Yulia Shapovalova. 'There were hopes when Donald Trump came into power that the conflict would end. People saw that Trump had some steps to bring peace to Ukraine to help finish this conflict, but now he's kind of lost his patience,' she said. 'Pro-war sources say: 'You see, we told you that Russia didn't have to trust Donald Trump because he was not Russia's friend.''
Al Jazeera
5 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Zelenskyy nominates Yulia Svyrydenko as new Ukraine PM
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has recommended Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko to become prime minister in a significant political shake-up for the war-scarred country. The announcement on Monday could herald a wider reshuffle in the government, three and a half years into the Russian invasion. 'I have proposed that Yuliia Svyrydenko lead the government of Ukraine and significantly renew its work,' Zelenskyy wrote on social media. 'I look forward to the presentation of the new government's action plan in the near future.' The recommendation is part of what he called 'a transformation of the executive branch' of government in Ukraine. The two discussed 'concrete measures to boost Ukraine's economic potential, expand support programs for Ukrainians and scale up our domestic weapons production', Zelenskyy said. Svyrydenko, 39, gained prominence this year during fraught negotiations around a rare minerals deal with the United States that nearly derailed ties between Kyiv and its most important military ally. If the change is approved, she would replace Denys Shmyhal, who became prime minister in 2020. 'The government needs a change because people are exhausted,' said Tymofiy Mylovanov, a former economy minister who worked with Svyrydenko. Mylovanov, who now heads the Kyiv School of Economics, said the changes would likely bring 'a sort of freshness' after more than three years of war. Zelenskyy is also considering naming Defence Minister Rustem Umerov as Ukraine's ambassador to Washington, he said at a news conference last week. Zelenskyy met Umerov over the weekend, after which he said, 'Ukraine needs more positive dynamics in relations with the United States and at the same time new steps in managing the defence sector of our state.' Svyrydenko, who is also a deputy prime minister, was appointed to manage Ukraine's struggling economy months before the Kremlin launched its full-scale assault in February 2022. Her appointment will require approval by parliament, which has largely united around Zelenskyy since the invasion and is unlikely to vote against the president.
