A “revolutionary document”: Vladimir Putin signed the mutual defense agreement with North Korea

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the mutual defense treaty with North Korea, whose soldiers are already, according to Kiev and Washington, about to join Russians fighting Ukrainian forces.

Concluded during Vladimir Putin's rare visit to Pyongyang in June, this treaty between two bête noires of the United States provides for “immediate military assistance” in the event of an attack on either country.

The upper house of the Russian parliament had ratified the treaty on November 8, but it still needed to be signed by the Russian president before coming into force. The Kremlin published the law ratifying the treaty on its website on Saturday evening.

The agreement formalizes months of deepening security cooperation between the two countries, Communist allies throughout the Cold War. Russia and North Korea have grown considerably closer since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022.

The agreement also commits both countries to international cooperation in opposing Western sanctions and coordinating their positions at the United Nations. In June, President Putin described the agreement as a “revolutionary document”.

Citing intelligence reports, South Korea, Ukraine and the West claim that North Korea has deployed around 10,000 troops in Russia to fight Ukraine.

When asked publicly about this deployment last October, the Russian president did not deny it, instead deflecting the question to criticize Western support for Ukraine.