Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared that Russia and North Korea are jointly fighting to establish a “new and just world order” based on multipolarity and respect for national interests.
In a telegram sent to mark Korea’s National Liberation Day and reported by North Korea’s state news agency KCNA, Lavrov outlined an ambitious vision for the deepening Moscow-Pyongyang axis that has grown since the start of the Ukraine war.
“Today, Moscow and Pyongyang are standing united in advocating the creation of a new, just world order based on the principles of multipolarity, genuine equality and consideration of national interests,” Lavrov wrote, according to translations carried by UNN and other outlets.
Troops in Kursk Cement the Alliance
Lavrov specifically thanked North Korea for the participation of its military personnel in driving Ukrainian forces out of Russia’s Kursk region, where Kyiv launched a shock cross-border offensive in August 2024. He framed the deployment as evidence of “the traditions of combat comradeship established by our heroic ancestors.”
North Korea sent more than 10,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russian forces in the war against Ukraine, and has agreed to dispatch an additional 6,000 military engineers and builders for reconstruction work in Kursk, according to Al Arabiya. South Korean intelligence has indicated Pyongyang may be preparing further troop deployments.
In a separate statement reported by Russia’s RIA news agency, Lavrov told North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui that Russia “highly values” Pyongyang’s “principled, unambiguous support for Russia’s actions in connection with the special military operation in Ukraine.”
A Mutual Defense Pact and Rising Tensions
The diplomatic messaging comes as the two nations have upgraded their strategic cooperation to include a mutual defense pact, the latest in a series of escalations since North Korean troops first appeared on Ukrainian battlefields. The Reuters report confirmed Lavrov’s telegram was transmitted through KCNA channels.
Analysts at the Hudson Institute have warned that the Russia-North Korea axis threatens regional stability beyond Ukraine, noting that every container of North Korean military equipment shipped to Russia reinforces Putin’s determination to sustain the war. The cooperation also raises the prospect that Kim Jong Un may leverage Moscow’s backing to extract concessions from Beijing while continuing to expand North Korea’s nuclear-armed missile forces.
Lavrov arrived in Pyongyang from Kuala Lumpur, where he had attended the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting. His visit continues a pattern of high-level exchanges that has accelerated since Putin’s landmark trip to North Korea last year.
Sources: Reuters; KCNA via UNN; Al Arabiya; Hudson Institute; NK News
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