Russian President Vladimir Putin has thanked the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for its friendship and support and pledged to assist Pyongyang in its own struggle to assert its independence and its own identity.
Putin is scheduled to visit North Korea on Tuesday, for the first time since 2000. Ahead of his trip, the Russian president has written an article published by the leading DPRK daily, Rodong Sinmun.
“Russia has continuously supported and will support the DPRK and the heroic Korean people in their struggle against the treacherous, dangerous and aggressive enemy, in their fight for independence, identity and the right to freely choose their development path,” Putin wrote.
The Russian leader thanked North Korea for its “unwavering support” of the military operation in Ukraine, international solidarity, and “willingness to defend our common priorities and views” at the UN.
Putin also described Pyongyang as “our committed and like-minded supporter, ready to confront the ambition of the collective West to prevent the emergence of a multipolar world order based on justice, mutual respect for sovereignty and consideration of each other’s interests.”
The “rules-based order” the US has been trying to impose on the world is “nothing more than a global neo-colonial dictatorship that relies on double standards,” Putin noted.
While Kim Jong-un and the DPRK leadership have repeatedly offered to resolve differences by peaceful means, the US has refused to implement previous agreements and “keeps setting new, increasingly harsh and obviously unacceptable requirements,” Putin wrote.
The Russian president complimented North Koreans for “effectively defending their interests” even after years of “economic pressure, provocations, blackmailing and military threats” by the US.
According to the Kremlin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, Transport Minister Roman Starovoyt, Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov, and Russian Railway head Oleg Belozyorov are scheduled to accompany Putin on his trip to North Korea on Tuesday.