Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un pose for a photo during the signing ceremony of the new partnership in Pyongyang, on June 19, 2024. - AP
MOSCOW: A new treaty signed between North Korea and Russia provides for "mutual assistance" in case either country faces aggression, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said Wednesday (June 19), in an apparent warning to the West.
Putin visited the repressive state more than two years into Moscow's offensive that has ruptured ties with Western countries, which accuse North Korea of supplying Moscow with weapons for use in Ukraine.
"The comprehensive partnership treaty signed today provides, among other things, for mutual assistance in case of aggression against one of the parties to this treaty," Putin said.
He called it a "breakthrough document" that will bring "our relations to a new level."
Putin also did not rule out "military-technical cooperation" with North Korea and thanked the reclusive country for its support of Moscow's actions in Ukraine.
Kim was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that the treaty was "defensive".
He praised Putin as North Korea's "dearest friend."
Putin's trip came as Russia now joins North Korea as one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world.
The longtime Russian leader said Moscow and Pyongyang will stand together to resist the "strangling" of Western sanctions.
"Russia and Korea have an independent foreign policy and do not tolerate the language of blackmail and diktat," he said.
"We will continue to counter the practice of sanctions strangling as an instrument that the West has grown used to using with the aim of keeping its hegemony in politics, economics and other spheres," he added.
He furthermore said that UN sanctions on the North Korean regime -- one of the most repressive in the world -- should be re-examined.
"I am noting that the indefinite restrictive regime inspired by the US and its allies at the UN Security Council towards the DPRK should be reviewed," Putin said.
His comment came after Russia earlier this year used its veto power at the UN to effectively end official UN monitoring of sanctions on North Korea, a major win for Pyongyang.
Putin invited Kim -- who toured the Russian Far East on a rare trip abroad in September last year -- to Moscow.
The Russian leader last visited North Korea 24 years ago. - AFP
