Collaboration now official
Putin puts “defense agreement” with North Korea into effect
November 10, 2024 – 4:29 p.mReading time: 1 min.
North Korean soldiers have been fighting for Russia in Ukraine for weeks. Now Putin officially signs an agreement with Kim.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has brought into force the “defense agreement” with North Korea agreed in June. The Kremlin published the law ratifying the agreement signed by the president on its website on Saturday evening. The Russian parliament had previously approved the assistance pact.
Putin signed the agreement in June during a visit to Pyongyang together with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. It followed months of deepening security cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
The agreement stipulates that the two countries will provide “immediate military assistance” in the event of an attack on one of them. It also obliges Moscow and Pyongyang to cooperate in resisting Western sanctions and to coordinate their positions at the United Nations.
North Korea has become one of the main supporters of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. The West has long accused the internationally isolated country of supplying Moscow with ammunition for use in Ukraine.
According to the US government and Ukraine, North Korea has also sent more than 10,000 of its soldiers to the Russian border region of Kursk in recent weeks to support the Russian army in the fight against the Ukrainian army. When Putin was asked about this in October, his answer was evasive, but he did not deny the reports.
