Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said that both countries face a Western “sanctions war”
Russia and North Korea are similar in that they are both being subjected to considerable Western sanctions pressure, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. She also claimed that the West used deceptive arguments to drum up international support for the restrictions against Pyongyang.
The US, EU, and other Western countries first imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014, after a referendum in Crimea in which the peninsula voted to join Russia. Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, much tougher and more sweeping measures against Moscow were put in place. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s estimates, the number of restrictions has exceeded 20,000.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has been under international sanctions, including UN Security Council sanctions, for decades over its missile and nuclear weapons programs. The number of restrictions has surpassed 2,000.
Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok on Friday, Zakharova said that both Russia and the DPRK are “going through incredible challenges in terms of the sanctions war.” She added that the two countries “have a number of coinciding views on the international situation.”
Zakharova went on to claim that the sanctions against North Korea target the general population.
“The West again lied… [and] forced the international community to believe it, saying then that [the sanctions against North Korea] were necessary to ensure security,” she added.
This June, Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a state visit to North Korea for the first time since 2000.
Following talks, Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which includes a pledge by Russia and the DPRK to assist each other in case of foreign aggression.
The Russian president highlighted Pyongyang’s right to take “reasonable steps” to ensure its security and sovereignty. He also denounced the “indefinite restrictions regime” that was “orchestrated by the US” and imposed on North Korea by the UN Security Council.
“Overused Western propaganda tropes can no longer hide their aggressive geopolitical intentions, including in Northwestern Asia,” Putin said during the trip. He also stated that “Russia does not rule out the development of military cooperation with the DPRK,” given that Western nations are supplying advanced weapons to Ukraine en masse.
The US and South Korea have accused North Korea of providing missiles and artillery to Russia, which both Pyongyang and Moscow have denied.
