Vladimir Putin has praised North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine, describing them as “heroic” in a letter to Kim Jong-un, according to reports.
The Russian president also reportedly spoke of the “bonds of militant friendship” built between the two countries when the Soviet Red Army units and North Korea’s forces fought alongside each other to liberate Korea from Japanese rule.
In the latest sign of the increasingly close ties between the two leaders, the letter was sent to mark the anniversary of the end of Japan’s colonial occupation, the Guardian reported on Friday, citing North Korean state media.
“The bonds of militant friendship, goodwill and mutual aid which were consolidated in the days of the war long ago remain solid and reliable even today,” it stated, according to news agency Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
“This was fully proved by the heroic participation of the DPRK [the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name for North Korea] soldiers in liberating the territory of Kursk region from the Ukrainian occupationists.”
Russian forces launched a counteroffensive in Russia’s Kursk region earlier this year, with the aim of eliminating Kyiv’s final positions there, after Ukraine managed to establish a foothold in the region last year.
The chair of Russia’s Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, delivered Mr Putin’s letter when he met Mr Kim in Pyongyang on Thursday during an official visit, according to KCNA.
It reported Mr Volodin thanked Mr Kim for “dispatching excellent soldiers to the Kursk liberation operations for driving out the Ukrainian aggressors”, adding that Russia will always remember the North Korean troops “who fought at the cost of their lives in Russia”.
It comes after Mr Putin held a phone call with Mr Kim to “reaffirm” their close relationship ahead of his summit with Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday.
Mr Putin is set to meet Mr Trump for the first time since the US president’s return to the White House to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine, a meeting that would be closely watched by world leaders.
Mr Putin spoke with Kim on Tuesday ahead of his summit with Mr Trump, pledging “closer contact in the future” and discussing issues of mutual concern, according to KCNA.
North Korea sent around 15,000 troops to fight in the war in Ukraine and supplied large quantities of military equipment, including artillery and ballistic missiles, in support of Mr Putin’s war efforts against Ukraine, according to South Korean assessments.
Mr Kim has also agreed to send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to Russia’s Kursk region, a deployment South Korean intelligence believes could happen soon.
North Korea and Russia have strongly supported each other since Mr Putin launched his so-called special military operation in Ukraine in February 2021. The two economically and diplomatically isolated countries have since signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership treaty to strengthen their military alliance.
Mr Putin made a trip to North Korea in June 2024, his first visit to the country in 24 years, when the two signed the treaty.
Ukraine cause akin to Second World War Allies, Starmer says before Alaska talks
Ukraine war latest: Delegations arrive in Alaska ahead of Trump-Putin summit
Australian lawyer apologizes for AI-generated errors in murder case
How Russia is preparing for conflict in Nato’s new Arctic battleground
A mechanic lost his wallet – a decade later it turned up 151,000 miles away
Three women charged over newborn’s death in female genital mutilation case
