North Korea’s Kim Jong Un vows steadfast support for Russia’s war in Ukraine

Kim Jong Un meets Andrei Belousov in Pyongyang on Friday

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed his country will "invariably support" Russia's war in Ukraine as he met Russia's defence chief, the North's state media reported Saturday.

A Russian military delegation led by Defence Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in North Korea, amid growing international concern about the two countries' expanding cooperation after North Korea sent thousands of troops to Russia last month.

The official Korean Central News Agency said that Kim and Belousov reached "a satisfactory consensus" on boosting strategic partnership and defending each country's sovereignty, security interests and international justice in the face of the rapidly-changing international security environments in a Friday meeting.

Kim said that North Korea "will invariably support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity from the imperialists' moves for hegemony," KCNA said.

North Korea has supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine, calling it a defensive response to what both Moscow and Pyongyang call NATO's "reckless" eastward advance and US-led moves to stamp out Russia's position as a powerful state.

Kim slammed a US decision earlier in November to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with US-supplied longer-range missiles as a direct intervention in the conflict. He called recent Russian strikes on Ukraine a timely and effective measure.

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