North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Photo: PAP/EPA/MIKHAIL METZEL /SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL
Lukashenko said during talks with Kim that relations between Minsk and Pyongyang were entering a "fundamentally new stage" and announced that the two sides had signed a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, the Reuters news agency reported, citing Belarus’ state news agency BelTA.
Lukashenko received a red-carpet welcome on his arrival in Pyongyang on Wednesday, where he was greeted by North Korea’s foreign minister and children waving the flags of both countries, reports said.
He also visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a mausoleum for former North Korean leaders, where he laid a bouquet sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin along with a floral tribute in his own name, Reuters reported, citing North Korean state media KCNA.
North Korea has provided Russia with millions of rounds of ammunition for its war in Ukraine and has sent troops to help Russian forces push back a Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region in August 2024, according to Western officials.
Belarus, which borders NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, allowed its territory to be used as a staging ground for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has agreed to host Russian tactical nuclear weapons, according to Reuters.
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Source: Reuters, IAR, PAP, polskieradio24.pl