Putin signed a mutual defense agreement with North Korea

(Patria) - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a strategic partnership agreement with North Korea that includes mutual defense provisions, according to a decree published on Saturday, Reuters reported.

The agreement, which Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed in June after a summit in Pyongyang, calls on both sides to come to the aid of the other in the event of an armed attack.

The upper house of the Russian parliament ratified the agreement this week, while the lower house supported it last month. Putin signed the decree on this ratification, which appeared on the government website on Saturday and listed the legislative procedures.

The agreement has fostered closer ties between Moscow and Pyongyang since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Reports from South Korea and Western countries say North Korea has supplied weapons to Russia. Ukrainian forensic experts say they have found traces of weapons at the sites of Russian attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Thursday that North Korea had sent 11,000 soldiers to Russia, and that some had already fallen victim in combat with Ukrainian forces in Russia's southern Kursk region.

Russia has not confirmed the presence of North Korean troops.