Kim Jong Un says North Korea will continue to ‘unconditionally support’ Russia’s efforts to ‘resolve the situation’ in Ukraine
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Pyongyang is prepared to continue supporting the Russian authorities in their efforts to “resolve the situation” in Ukraine, according to North Korea’s state news agency KCNA.
The agency said Kim expressed his readiness “to continue to unconditionally support all of the Russian leadership’s measures aimed at a fundamental resolution of the situation” in Ukraine, in line with agreements between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Lavrov was in North Korea on a three-day visit. In a press release, Russia’s Foreign Ministry expressed “sincere gratitude” for Pyongyang’s “consistent and principled support for Russia’s special military operation,” as well as for the participation of North Korean troops in the war.
At a press conference, Lavrov was asked whether North Korean forces might be deployed to new fronts in the war in Ukraine. He replied that Kim decides for himself what form North Korea’s support for Russia will take. “We are responding to the proposals of the head of the DPRK, the chairman of state affairs. We have had no reason to turn down this sincere expression of solidarity,” Lavrov said.
North Korean troops took part in fighting in Russia’s Kursk region, parts of which were occupied by Ukrainian forces in August 2024. The first reports of North Korean involvement in combat operations surfaced in October, but Moscow did not officially acknowledge it until late April 2025.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, North Korea is expected to send between 25,000 and 30,000 soldiers to join the war in the coming months.
