Putin signs law to ratify strategic partnership treaty with North Korea

As the Russia-Ukraine war continued to escalate, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation to ratify a strategic bilateral treaty between North Korea and Moscow. This ratification came at a time when Ukraine, South Korea and the US claimed thousands of North Korean soldiers are currently deployed near the Ukrainian border.

According to Russian news outlet Tass, Putin signed a law for the ratification of the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty between Moscow and Pyongyang, on Saturday. The Russian leader first signed the deal with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un during his visit to Pyongyang in June this year.

Before Putin’s signature, the lower and upper houses of the Russian parliament approved the bill for ratification, earlier this month. The controversial treaty entails that if either of the parties is invaded and placed under a state of war, the other will deploy all means in its possession to provide military and other assistance, without delay.

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North Korean troops clash with Ukrainian forces in Kursk

Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that North Korean troops deployed in Russia’s Kursk region have fought  the Ukrainian forces on the battlefield. Zelenskyy noted that 11,000 North Korean troops are deployed in the region, where Ukraine’s three-month military incursion into Russian territory has stalled.

“Eleven thousand North Korean soldiers or soldiers of the North Korean army are currently present on the territory of the Russian Federation in the border with Ukraine on the north of our country in the Kursk region,” Zelensky told reporters at the European Political Community summit in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday.

“Some of these troops have already taken part in hostilities against the Ukrainian military. Yes, there are already losses, this is a fact," he added. However, the Ukrainian leader did not specify the number of fatalities and which side suffered the most.

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With inputs from agencies.