Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un start talks in North Korea, sign joint declaration
SEOUL, June 18 (UPI) -- Highlighting their rare visit to North Korea, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a new agreement that includes a NATO-styled defense clause to come to each other's aid if one is attacked.
The agreement signed in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang comes as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continued well into its second year and North Korea faces growing tensions with U.S. allies in the region.
According to Russian state-run media, Putin and Kim signed and exchanged copies of the document during a signing ceremony and left the gathering together.
Putin aide Yury Ushakov said the new pact was needed because of "profound changes in the geopolitical situation" around the globe. He said the new agreement replaces past treaties of mutual assistance between the new countries.
Putin and Kim started the summit Wednesday morning after an elaborate welcoming ceremony and amid international concerns over growing military and economic cooperation between the two nuclear regimes.
Putin arrived for his first visit to the isolated country since 2000 and was met at the airport by Kim, Russian and North Korean media reported.
"Kim Jong Un shook hands with Putin and embraced him warmly, expressing his joy and gladness to meet him again," state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.
The two leaders previously held a summit in Russia in September, which launched a new era of cooperation between the Cold War allies centered around Pyongyang's shipment of munitions to Moscow for its war in Ukraine.
"Last year, as a result of your visit to Russia, we made significant progress in building our bilateral relations," Putin said in his opening statement. "And today, a new fundamental document has been prepared, which will form the basis of our relations for the long term."
Putin thanked North Korea for its "consistent and unwavering support" for Russian policy, including the war in Ukraine, according to a transcript from the Kremlin.
The Russian leader also cited the ongoing "struggle against the hegemonic policy, the imperialist policy imposed for decades on the part of the United States and its satellites in relation to the Russian Federation."
In an essay published in North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper Tuesday ahead of his visit, Putin vowed to bolster an economic partnership outside the reach of the international sanctions imposed on both countries.
"We will develop alternative trade and mutual settlement mechanisms not controlled by the West, jointly oppose illegitimate unilateral restrictions, and shape the architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia," Putin wrote.
Kim said in his opening remarks Wednesday that the North "will unconditionally support all Russian policies," according to the Kremlin transcript.
The North Korean leader said Putin's visit "confirms the quality of Russian-Korean relations, which have entered a period of highest development."
Earlier on Wednesday, Putin was welcomed with an official ceremony in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square.
Russian news agency TASS reported that an honor guard, military troops and crowds of citizens holding flowers filled the square, which was decorated with balloons and Russian and North Korean flags.
The two leaders walked a red carpet and toured the parade grounds in an open-top Mercedes limousine as national anthems played and fireworks were launched, TASS reported.
Ahead of the summit, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Putin's visit an act of "desperation" to acquire weapons and ammunition for its war in Ukraine.
"We've seen Russia try, in desperation, to develop and to strengthen relations with countries that can provide it with what it needs to continue the war of aggression that it started against Ukraine," Blinken said during a press conference after his meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington.
Blinken added that the United States will "continue to do everything we can to cut off the support [for Russia's invasion] that countries like Iran and North Korea are providing."
On Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Matt Miller said that North Korea has transferred "dozens of ballistic missiles and over 11,000 containers of munitions to aid Russia's war effort."
Washington and its allies claim that Russia is providing fuel, raw materials and advanced space and weapons technology to North Korea in exchange.
After the summit, Putin is scheduled to fly to Hanoi, Vietnam, late Wednesday night for a two-day state visit.
