North Korea's leader says he hopes Moscow will defeat 'neo-Nazism and achieve a major victory' in Ukraine.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has paid tribute to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a New Year's message praising the deepening of relations between Pyongyang and Moscow, state media said.
In a New Year's letter, Kim extended his greetings to his “close friend and comrade” Putin, the Russian people and the Russian military, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Tuesday.
Kim wished Putin “greater success in his tasks of responsible and responsible leadership and the development of the Russian people, prosperity and happiness”, KCNA said.
Kim also said that he is ready to “create and continue with new projects” involving Pyongyang and Moscow after a “meaningful visit” in 2024, KCNA, and said that he hoped that Russia would defeat “neo-Nazism and achieve a great victory” in Ukraine.
Putin claimed without evidence that his invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was necessary to protect Russian speakers from “Nazi tyranny”.
North Korea and Russia have strengthened ties significantly since the start of the war.
In June, Kim and Putin signed a defense pact in the first visit by a Russian leader to North Korea in nearly a quarter of a year.
Pyongyang has since sent more than 10,000 troops to support Russian forces in Ukraine, according to South Korean and Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that his forces had killed or wounded more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk region.
The National Intelligence Service in South Korea said that the number of people injured in North Korea is about 100 killed and 1,000 injured.