Image of the new meeting between the presidents of Russia and North Korea, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un.
Russia and North Korea are strengthening their ties of enhanced cooperation compared to recent years, especially in the last few months of the war between Russia and Ukraine, when North Korea collaborated in joint operations in Ukrainian territory. Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un committed to "Reinforce their cooperation" days before Putin's meeting with American President Donald Trump on Friday, August 15, in Alaska. It is expected that the American leader will pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine, a conflict where North Koreans have provided military support to Russia.
Putin praised Kim Jong Un for having a life of "Sacrifice, heroism, and bravery" because North Korean troops fight alongside Russian troops to repel Ukrainian incursions in Kursk. In response, the Kremlin assured that the Russian president will share with Kim his upcoming conversations with Trump next Friday, the 15th, but North Korean information reports did not mention that meeting.
Kim Jong Un expressed that Russia is part of the priorities of Pyongyang's foreign policy agenda because he expressed his support for all measures taken by Russia, through a "total support" from the North Korean regime for actions taken jointly with Russia. Furthermore, both leaders exchanged congratulations on the upcoming 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese imperialism, a celebration that will take place on August 15, and Kim described this event as a "shared national holiday," alluding to the role of the Soviet Red Army in the defeat of Japanese forces.
This bilateral meeting reinforces the strategic cooperation agreement signed in Pyongyang in July 2024 between both countries, which included mutual military assistance in case of external aggression, developing friendship and good neighborhood relations in various areas and confirming the expectation of maintaining regular high-level contacts.
At the same time, the foreign ministers of Russia and the United States, Sergei Lavrov and Marco Rubio, held a conversation to finalize the details of the meeting in Alaska between Trump and Putin, where Russian diplomacy maintains a "positive approach" and a shared interest in achieving a successful meeting to address peaceful solutions to the crisis with Ukraine.
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