Kim, Putin Discuss Deepening Ties and War Efforts Ahead of Putin-Trump Meeting

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call to discuss their strengthening relations and joint war efforts against Ukraine, the countries’ state media reported Wednesday, days before Putin’s planned meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska.

According to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Putin on Tuesday praised the “bravery, heroism and self-sacrificing spirit” of North Korean troops who fought alongside Russian forces to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region.

Russia’s TASS news agency, citing the Kremlin, reported that Putin also shared details with Kim about his upcoming talks with Trump, scheduled for Friday in Alaska. The North Korean account did not mention the planned Trump meeting.

KCNA said Kim expressed full support for “all measures to be taken by the Russian leadership in the future” as the two leaders discussed advancing cooperation in “all fields” under the strategic partnership agreement they signed during a summit last year.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kim has made Moscow the focus of his foreign policy, seeking to break out of diplomatic isolation and build ties with countries opposing Washington. His government has rejected U.S. and South Korean calls to resume nuclear talks, which collapsed in 2019 after a failed summit with Trump during his first term.

South Korean intelligence assesses that North Korea has sent about 15,000 troops to Russia since last fall, along with large shipments of military equipment, including artillery and ballistic missiles, to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Kim has also agreed to send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to the Kursk region, a deployment that Seoul believes could take place soon.