Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a mutual defense treaty with North Korea, whose troops are already ready to join the war against Ukrainian forces, according to sources in Kiev and Washington.
The agreement, reached during Putin’s visit to Pyongyang in June, provides for reciprocal “immediate military assistance” in the event of an attack on either country.
The upper house of the Russian parliament ratified the agreement on November 8, but it must then be signed by the Russian president to enter into force.
The Kremlin published a law ratifying the agreement on its website on Saturday evening.
The agreement formalizes months of deepening security cooperation between the two countries, communist allies during the Cold War.
Russia and North Korea have grown closer since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The agreement also commits the two countries to international cooperation to counter Western sanctions and coordinate their positions at the United Nations.
Putin called the agreement a “revolutionary document” in June.
Citing intelligence reports, South Korea, Ukraine and the West say North Korea has deployed about 10,000 troops to Russia, ready to fight against Ukraine in the Kursk region, where the Ukrainian army has seized part of Russian territory.
