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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has told the Russian defence minister that Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons is the result of direct military intervention by the United States and Moscow is entitled to fight in self-defence, state media said yesterday.
Kim met Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov on Friday and said “the US and the West made Kyiv authorities attack Russia’s territory with their own long-range strike weapons” and Russia should take action to make “hostile forces pay the price,” KCNA news agency said.
“The DPRK government, army and people will invariably support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity from the imperialists’ moves for hegemony,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
DPRK is short for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Kim pledged to expand ties with Russia in all areas including military affairs under the comprehensive strategic partnership he signed with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June, which includes a mutual defence agreement, KCNA said.
Moscow and Pyongyang have dramatically advanced ties since their leaders held a summit in September last year in Russia, and the North has since shipped more than 10,000 containers of ammunition, as well as self-propelled howitzers and multiple rocket launchers, according to South Korea’s spy agency.
KCNA made no mention of whether Kim and Belousov discussed North Korea’s deployment of troops to Russia.
South Korea’s spy agency has said North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia and they have been moved to frontlines, including the Kursk region where Russian forces are trying to expel Ukrainian forces.
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