The North Korean leader expresses his hope that Moscow will defeat “neo-Nazism and achieve a great victory” in Ukraine.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised Russian President Vladimir Putin in a New Year’s message in which he praised the deepening of relations between Pyongyang and Moscow, state media reported.
In a New Year’s message, Kim conveyed his greetings to his “dear friend and comrade” Putin, the Russian people and the Russian military, KCNA reported on Tuesday.
The Korean Central News Agency said that Kim wished Putin “greater success in his responsible and heavy leadership activities and for the Russian people prosperity, well-being and happiness.”
Kim said he was also ready to “design and move forward with new projects” involving Pyongyang and Moscow after their “purposeful journey” in 2024, KCNA reported, and expressed hope that Russia would defeat “neo-Nazism and achieve a great victory” in 2024. Ukraine.
Putin claimed, without evidence, that his 2022 invasion of Ukraine was necessary to protect Russian speakers from a “neo-Nazi dictatorship.”
North Korea and Russia have strengthened relations significantly since the beginning of the war.
In June, Kim and Putin signed a mutual defense agreement during the Russian leader’s first visit to North Korea in nearly a quarter-century.
Since then, Pyongyang has sent more than 10,000 troops to assist Russian forces in Ukraine, according to South Korean and Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this month that his forces had killed or wounded more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service estimated the number of casualties in North Korea at about 100 dead and 1,000 wounded.
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