Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has declared a newly signed strategic partnership between himself and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “defensive in nature” and a “breakthrough” agreement that promises “mutual assistance” if either country is attacked. The two leaders signed the new treaty on Wednesday, which is centered on a commitment of mutual aid if either nation faces “aggression”; however, details were not immediately clear and it could stop short of being a full war treaty. Putin’s first trip to North Korea in 24 years has been expectedly chummy as he and Kim thumb their noses at the West and US-led sanctions.
During the Tuesday night into Wednesday visit, Kim declared his “full support and solidarity” for Russia’s war in Ukraine. In return, Putin thanked Kim for his “unwavering” support, and characterized during their meeting Pyongyang that Moscow is in reality resisting a decades-long “hegemonic and imperialist policy” of Washington and NATO.
Already, North Korea is believed to have supplied Russia’s armed forces with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells for use in Ukraine. War monitors have long said that on the front lines, Russia’s rate of artillery fire outpaces Ukraine’s by ten to one.
The BBC has described this new alliance as an “ominously ambiguous commitment” between “pariahs in arms. Putin stated that the treaty is defensive in nature and promises “mutual assistance” if either country is attacked, calling it a “breakthrough” agreement that takes ties to a “new level.
Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride aptly described that the two leaders sought “to put on a united face to the world in spite of the various crises they face.
It was a show of strength, a show of unity, heralding what they believe and want other people to believe is a new era in their relations,” he observed. It has all culminated in the signing of a new agreement between the two, which according to Putin forms the basis of relations for years to come.
Tuesday night included both leaders attending a special gala concert where a popular Russian singer performed, while there was also a moment where Putin and Kim drove a limo, which is the second luxury Aurus limousine to be recently gifted by the Russian leader. The BBC described of the interesting scene.
As we’ve been reporting, Russia’s leader has gifted his North Korean counterpart – and rumored car enthusiast – with a luxury Aurus limousine.
And what better way to celebrate the signing of an accord in which the two countries agreed to support each other in the face of aggression, than with a drive.
The Russian delegation flew in with a huge entourage which included no less than five Russian government Il-76 cargo planes which had parked at the capital’s airport since at least Monday.
The whole visit has been a huge red carpet and extravagant occasion, as AP described: “Kim met Putin at the airport, where the two shook hands, hugged twice and rode together in a limousine.
