Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un have vowed to strengthen cooperation, days ahead of Putin's summit in Alaska with Donald Trump, Pyongyang's state media reported Wednesday.
Putin and Kim spoke by phone in a "warm comradely atmosphere" on Tuesday and confirmed "their will to strengthen cooperation in the future", the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Putin expressed appreciation for "the self-sacrificing spirit displayed by service personnel of the Korean People's Army in liberating Kursk", KCNA added, a reference to North Korea's participation in Russia's war on Ukraine.
Kim, in turn, pledged that North Korea would "fully support all measures to be taken by the Russian leadership in the future, too".
The Kremlin confirmed the phone call in a statement, adding that Putin had "shared information with Kim Jong Un in the context of the upcoming talks with US President Donald Trump".
Trump is expected to press Russia to end the Ukraine war during their meeting in Alaska on Friday.
The public disclosure of the two leaders' conversation signals the "intent to showcase their closeness to domestic and international audiences", Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.
Should Trump and Putin agree on a Ukraine peace deal, "Putin could convey Kim's stance on Trump's North Korea-related interests, potentially including a conditional summit on nuclear disarmament," said Yang.
"If Russia-Ukraine peace talks gather momentum, they could have a positive spillover effect on US-North Korea and inter-Korean dialogue," he added.
Russia and North Korea have forged closer ties in recent years, with Pyongyang supplying troops and weapons for Russia's military operations in Ukraine.
The two countries signed a mutual defence pact last year, when Putin visited the reclusive state.
North Korea confirmed for the first time in April that it had deployed a contingent of its soldiers to the front line in Ukraine, alongside Russian troops.
With AFP
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