Russia would ‘never forget decisive assistance at most crucial time’ extended by North Korea, says Russian Duma speaker about ongoing Moscow-Kyiv war
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has urged the parliaments of Russia and his country to make efforts toward "fully" implementing bilateral treaties.
Kim made the comments during a meeting with Russian Federation State Duma speaker Byacheslav Volodin in Pyongyang on Thursday, North Korean state media reported.
Duma is the lower house of Russia’s federal parliament.
Volodin is in North Korea to attend the events marking the 80th anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from the Japanese occupation.
Kim stressed the role of the two parliaments in “strengthening the political and cooperative relations between the two countries and creating a political and legislative environment favorable for the development of bilateral relations.”
It is “hoped that the parliaments in the two countries would make joint efforts to ensure that new interstate treaties and agreements are fully implemented in all fields,” said Kim, who also received a liberation day letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kim and Putin last year signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement, requiring their militaries to support each other in case of a third-party attack on either of the two.
They spoke over the phone early this week, when the North Korean leader extended "full support" to Russia, as Putin prepared to meet with US President Donald Trump on Friday in the US state of Alaska.
Volodin lauded the role of “excellent” North Korea soldiers who joined Russian forces in the Ukraine war in the Kursk region, “for driving out the Ukrainian aggressors and for taking many measures helpful to defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia.”
“Russia would never forget” the North Korean people and government “who rendered decisive assistance at the most crucial time,” said the Duma speaker.
Pyongyang has not revealed the number of its soldiers deployed to the Russian frontlines against Ukraine, but South Korea has claimed North Korea sent thousands of its personnel.
Bodies of many North Korean soldiers, believed to have died in the ongoing Moscow-Kyiv war, were returned to Pyongyang.
