Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed Russia and North Korea’s “invincible fighting brotherhood” and warned the U.S., Japan and South Korea against forming an antagonistic alliance during a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Wonsan, North Korea, Saturday, according to the Russian foreign ministry. 

“We warn against exploiting these ties to build alliances directed against anyone, including North Korea and, of course, Russia,” Lavrov said, according to Russia’s state Tass news agency.

Russia and North Korea have bolstered their ties over the last few years, with North Korea providing troops and munitions to Russia in support of the war in Ukraine and Russia providing military and economic assistance to the closed-off dictatorship. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin also visited North Korea last year. 

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The U.S., South Korea and Japan have been expanding or restoring their trilateral military exercises in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear program. On Friday, the three countries held a joint air drill involving U.S. nuclear-capable bombers near the Korean Peninsula, and their top military officers met in Seoul and urged North Korea to cease all unlawful activities that threaten regional security.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui attend a meeting in Wonsan, North Korea, Saturday.  (Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via Reuters)

North Korea may deploy more troops this summer, according to South Korean intelligence. 

Lavrov called the meeting a continuation of the countries’ “strategic dialogue” and said he hoped for more direct meetings in the future. 

“We exchanged views on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis. … Our Korean friends confirmed their firm support for all the objectives of the special military operation, as well as for the actions of the Russian leadership and armed forces,” TASS quoted Lavrov as saying.

Lavrov called the meeting a continuation of the countries’ “strategic dialogue” and said he hoped for more direct meetings in the future.  (Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via Reuters)

Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said more Russian delegations would visit North Korea later in the year, TASS reported. 

Lavrov is next scheduled to travel to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting early next week. 

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

Here are the key events on day 1,235 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is how things stand on Sunday, July 13:

Fighting

• Ukrainian officials said Russian air attacks overnight on Saturday killed at least two people in the western city of Chernivtsi and wounded 38 others across Ukraine.
• The raids also damaged civilian infrastructure from Kharkiv and Sumy in the northeast to Lviv, Lutsk and Chernivtsi in the west.
• The Russian Ministry of Defence said it attacked companies in Ukraine’s military-industrial complex in Lviv, Kharkiv and Lutsk, as well as a military aerodrome.
• The United Nations Human Rights monitoring mission in Ukraine said that June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 injured.
• In Russia, a man was killed in the Belgorod region after a shell struck a private house, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Politics and diplomacy

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told visiting Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov that his country was ready to “unconditionally support” all actions taken by Moscow in Ukraine.
• Earlier, Lavrov held talks with his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, in Wonsan, and they issued a joint statement pledging support to safeguard the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of each other’s countries, according to North Korean state media.
• Lavrov also warned the United States, South Korea and Japan against forming “alliances directed against anyone, including North Korea and, of course, Russia”.
• Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, said his government hoped to reach an agreement with the European Union and its partners on guarantees that Slovakia would not suffer from the end of Russian gas supplies by Tuesday. Slovakia has been blocking the EU’s 18th sanctions package on Russia over its disagreement with a proposal to end all imports of Russian gas from 2028. Slovakia, which gets the majority of its gas from Russian supplier Gazprom under a long-term deal valid until 2034, argues the move could cause shortages, a rise in prices and transit fees, and lead to damage claims.
• Russia blamed Western sanctions for the collapse of its agreement with the UN to facilitate exports of Russian food and fertilisers. The three-year agreement was signed in 2022 in a bid to rein in global food prices.

Weapons

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was “close to reaching a multilevel agreement” with the US “on new Patriot systems and missiles for them”. Ukraine was stepping up production of its own interceptor systems, he added.