Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow and Pyongyang are working to establish a “new and righteous world order,” praising North Korean troops for helping Russia recapture territory in the Kursk region and pledging deeper cooperation between the two countries.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Russia and North Korea are seeking to deepen their military and political partnership while helping shape what Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described as a “new and righteous world order,” according to a message delivered to his North Korean counterpart.
Lavrov made the statement in a message to North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, reaffirming Moscow’s intention to expand cooperation with Pyongyang and contribute jointly to regional and international security, North Korea’s KCNA news agency reported Tuesday.
The message highlighted the increasingly close relationship between the two countries following North Korea’s deployment of thousands of soldiers to Russia during the war in Ukraine.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent an estimated 14,000 troops to Russia beginning in late 2024 to help Russian forces counter a major Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in the region in May 2025 and publicly thanked North Korea for its military assistance.
Lavrov said the wartime cooperation reflects a broader strategic relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang.
North Korea and Russia are continuing to establish a “new and righteous world order on the basis of genuine equality and national interests,” KCNA quoted Lavrov as saying.
He specifically praised North Korean troops for their role in the Kursk fighting.
“The participation of service personnel of the Korean People’s Army in the operations to drive the Ukrainian Nazi clique and foreign mercenaries out of Kursk is clear proof of the tradition of the militant friendship forged by the heroic preceding generations,” Lavrov said.
Russia has repeatedly characterized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government as being controlled by “Nazis” and has accused Kyiv of persecuting Russian-speaking Ukrainians since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, and Ukraine’s Western allies reject that characterization.
North Korean military involvement in Russia has become a growing concern for South Korea and Western governments, which fear Moscow may be providing Pyongyang with assistance for weapons development in exchange for personnel and military supplies.
Earlier this month, Zelenskyy said as many as 50,000 additional North Korean soldiers could be sent to Russia as part of a new deployment intended to increase military pressure on Ukraine.
North Korea’s support for Moscow has extended far beyond manpower.
According to Ukrainian and independent assessments, Pyongyang has supplied Russia with millions of artillery and mortar rounds, ballistic missiles, long-range artillery systems and multiple-launch rocket systems.
Those shipments have strengthened Russia’s ability to sustain a prolonged war while North Korea has gained a much closer strategic relationship with Moscow.
Lavrov’s latest message indicates that Russia views the partnership as extending beyond the immediate battlefield.
By describing Moscow and Pyongyang as participants in the construction of a “new and righteous world order,” the Russian foreign minister framed their cooperation as part of a broader challenge to the existing international system.
He also pledged continued expansion of bilateral cooperation across multiple fields while emphasizing the two countries’ shared security interests.
The relationship has grown considerably since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with North Korea emerging as one of Moscow’s most important military suppliers and one of the few countries to deploy troops directly in support of Russian combat operations.
With additional North Korean forces potentially headed to Russia and military supplies continuing to flow, the partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang appears positioned to play an even larger role in the next phase of the war.
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