In a statement released by the Kremlin, Putin said that North Korean forces played an active role in ousting North Korean forces from the border area “in full compliance with international law,” and that the strategic partnership agreement signed between Moscow and Pyongyang in November 2024 played an active role.
“My Korean friends acted on solidarity, justice and a sense of true comrade. We are grateful for this and are truly grateful to the State Department Kim Jong-un and the President of the State Department of State for the entire DPRK people,” Putin further said.
Putin said Russia pays tribute to North Korean soldiers’ “heroic, high-level special training and dedication.”
“We are confident that our national friendship, neighbourship and cooperation, softened on the battlefield, will continue to be successful and dynamically developed in all areas,” he added.
On Saturday, Russian general staff member Valery Gerasimov declared that Russia would take control of Kursk’s border area, thanking North Korean soldiers who participated in the region’s military action in the first official confirmation of Pyongyang’s involvement in the Russian-Ukrainian war that began in February 2022.
Ukrainian general staff say Gerasimov’s comments “doesn’t respond to reality,” and argue that Kiev’s defence operations in the region are still ongoing, but that the operational situation in the region is “difficult.”
MNA/