Putin, Kim Jong Un discuss 'strengthening cooperation' in phone call, ahead of Trump-Putin meeting
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un on Aug. 12, the Kremlin announced, just days before Putin is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska.
Russia and North Korea have grown increasingly close in recent years, especially as Moscow has faced growing geopolitical isolation following its invasion of Ukraine.
In a readout of the call provided by the Kremlin, Putin "shared information" with Kim on the upcoming negotiations with Trump.
The call comes just days before Putin will hold in-person negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine on Aug. 15. The Trump administration has promoted the meeting as a breakthrough in the peace process, though Ukrainian and European officials remain wary of negotiations that exclude Kyiv.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected handing over of any new territory, urging a ceasefire as the first step toward negotiations, a stance supported by Kyiv's European partners. Trump himself described the talks as a "feel-out meeting" to assess Russia's readiness for peace.
Ahead of the direct talks between Washington and Moscow, Putin has sought to rally Russia's allies around its maximalist demands for Ukraine's eastern territory, having previously held phone calls with the leaders of China, Belarus, and India on Aug. 8.
In addition to the discussions on upcoming negotiations, North Korean state media reported that the two leaders also spoke about "their will to strengthen cooperation in the future," under their previously signed Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement.
The Kremlin echoed similar statements, stating that "both sides reaffirmed their commitment to further developing relations of friendship, neighbourliness, and cooperation across all areas," included in the agreement.
The conversation between Kim and Putin comes as Ukrainian officials have assessed that North Korea has additionally deployed 20,000 to 30,000 troops to Russia, in a move that is seen by experts as an attempt to gain a better negotiating position in Moscow's war in Ukraine.
North Korea, which sent around 11,000 soldiers to Russia's Kursk Oblast last year to help fend off a Ukrainian incursion, vowed in July that the country would "unconditionally" support Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
