Russia and North Korea have entered into a "strategic partnership agreement" – and a pact with mutual defence guarantees.
If one of the countries is attacked, the other is committed to coming to its aid, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un have agreed in Pyongyang.
The comprehensive partnership agreement signed today provides for the provision of mutual assistance in the event of an attack on one of the agreement's parties, says Russia's President Vladimir Putin, according to the state-controlled media in his homeland.
It is not clear in detail how this promise is formulated – what assistance would entail in a conflict situation such as the Russian invasion war in Ukraine – but they describe it as entirely defence-oriented.
"Support and solidarity"
Russia's President arrived in North Korea and Pyongyang on Tuesday, where he was met by Kim Jong-Un at the airport. They then drove in a motorcade along streets adorned with Russian flags and large pictures of Putin, with crowds in grand arrangements.
The two autocrats agree that their countries' military and economic cooperation should be strengthened, as well as their united front against the USA, according to an agreement at the summit in North Korea.
At the meeting's opening, Putin thanked Kim for North Korea's support, including in the war in Ukraine. Russia's state-controlled media report that the two leaders spoke for about two hours.
Vladimir Putin says he hopes that the next meeting with Kim will take place in Moscow. The two last met when Kim visited Putin in Russia's Far East last autumn. The Russian leader last visited North Korea 24 years ago, when he was relatively new to his post.
Russia's government has strengthened its contacts with North Korea alongside the ongoing invasion war in Ukraine. North Korea is said to have supplied Russia with weapons.
"Showing that one is not isolated"
There are two reasons why Russia is turning to North Korea now, according to Carolina Vendil Pallin, research leader for the Russia Group at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI).
Russia is trying in every way to establish closer relations with countries that they do not define as "non-friendly" in order to show that they are not isolated.
And they need ammunition and weapons deliveries, says Carolina Vendil Pallin.
The war has put Russia in a weakened position, and countries like North Korea can now demand things from Russia in a completely different way, such as technology transfer.
