Putin: Russia, North Korea will protect each other under new partnership

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a new partnership this week, vowing to offer mutual aid and protection against their enemies.

Details of the deal were not immediately clear, but the agreement could mark the strongest connection between the two countries since the end of the Cold War, The Associated Press reported.

Putin described it as a “breakthrough document” that reflects each country’s desire to move relations to a higher level. Kim said Moscow and Pyongyang had a “fiery friendship” and described the deal as the “strongest ever treaty.”

The North Korean leader also vowed full support for Russia in its war with Ukraine. North Korea has supplied Russia with military equipment in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers, including materials that boost the north’s missile and space satellite sectors, per the AP.

The agreement follows Putin’s first trip to Pyongyang in 24 years. He is expected to stay through Wednesday, and the pair vowed to fight U.S.-led sanctions attempting to choke off economic support for the Russia-Ukraine war.

The AP noted that North Korea and the former Soviet Union signed a treaty in 1961 that would allow Russia to intervene if the North ever came under an attack. It was later discarded in the collapse of the USSR and replaced by a pact with less security measures.

It’s not known if the new agreement has the same or similar measures as the 1961 deal.

“The comprehensive partnership agreement signed today provides, among other things, for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement,” Putin said, according to Reuters.

The duo first met in September with Kim visited Russia.

The partnership also includes cooperation in political, trade, investment, cultural and humanitarian fields, Putin said. He also noted Russia would not rule out developing military cooperation with North Korea.

An alliance between Russia and North Korea could spell trouble for President Biden in the election this fall as he faces mounting pressure about multiple foreign policy issues.

The move also comes after Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bilateral security agreement last week during the G7 meeting in Italy.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Russia-North Korea agreement shows Moscow is “in desperation” to develop its foreign relations to try to continue the war.