Putin and Kim sign pact pledging mutual support against 'aggression'

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia met with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, in his first visit to the country in nearly a quarter-century on Wednesday, as the two autocrats vowed to build a joint front against the United States and deepen bilateral ties that Washington fears will include more arms trade.
Mr. Putin is the first major head of state to visit North Korea since the pandemic, highlighting its importance to Russia.
Mr. Kim gave Mr. Putin a red-carpet welcome early Wednesday in Pyongyang, the North’s capital. Two leaders were driven in the same car — the Russian-made Aurus limousine that Mr. Putin gave Mr. Kim last year — to the state guesthouse.
In a photograph provided by Russian state media, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un walk down red carpeting in an outdoor square. Scores of children stand nearby, waving. In the background are grandstands filled with people.
Despite sweltering heat, huge crowds were mobilized to a welcoming ceremony for Mr. Putin in the main square of Pyongyang later Wednesday, complete with goose-stepping honor guards and colorful balloons released into the air. The crowds waved paper flowers and the national flags of the two nations as Mr. Putin arrived.
Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine has brought the two leaders closer than ever. They were expected to hold bilateral talks for most of Wednesday, according to Russian state media, before Mr. Putin moves on to Vietnam.
As negotiations began, Mr. Putin touted a new strategic partnership document that the two leaders had signed at the summit.
“We greatly appreciate your consistent and unwavering support for Russian policy, including with regard to Ukraine, in light of our fight against the imperial policy the United States has pursued over decades in relation to the Russian Federation,” Mr. Putin told the North Korean leader.
Mr. Putin, who last visited North Korea shortly after becoming president in 2000, noted the changes in the capital over the intervening years and said the city had become beautiful under Mr. Kim’s leadership. He expressed hope that the next meeting between the two leaders would take place in the Russian capital.

In his remarks, Mr. Kim underscored what he called Russia’s role in supporting strategic stability and balance in the world, according to reports in Russian state media. The North Korean leader reiterated his support for Russian operations in Ukraine, cheering a new era of prosperity in relations between Moscow and Pyongyang, the state news reports said.
The two leaders then entered closed-door talks for about two hours.
Later on Wednesday, Mr. Putin was scheduled to visit the only Russian Orthodox Church in North Korea, built in the mid-2000s.
Russian state media released footage of mass celebrations that North Korean authorities had organized, as they honored Mr. Putin with Soviet-era military parades and rallies. Portraits of the Russian leader adorned buildings and streets across Pyongyang. Throngs of people cheered from the roadside as Mr. Putin was chauffeured through the capital.
“I don’t know any other country where a person breathes so freely,” Pavel Zarubin, a Russian state TV correspondent known for his fawning coverage of Mr. Putin, said in a video posted on Telegram from Kim Il-sung Square.