Russian Senators Ratify Putin’s Defense Pact With North Korea
- Putin signed accord with Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang in June
- Ukraine and allies say North Korean troops are now in Russia
Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang in June, in a photo released by Russian state media.
Photographer: Gavrill Grigorov/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Russia’s upper house of parliament ratified a mutual-defense pact with North Korea, amid US and European alarm over Pyongyang’s support for President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
The comprehensive strategic partnership that Putin signed with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June commits the two sides to assist each other if one of them is attacked. Russia’s lower house of parliament ratified the accord last month, on the same day that Putin avoided answering whether North Korean troops were already in the country.