Meeting Kim Jong-un, Vladimir Putin Calls Russia Not Violating Any Agreement

Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - South Korea and the United States have said any military agreement between Putin and Kim will violate UN sanctions against North Korea. However, President Vladimir Putin stressed that Russia did not violate and would not violate any agreements regarding Korea after meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this week in Vladivostok in Russia's Far East.

Russia, which supports UN resolutions against North Korea, has repeatedly said it wants to deepen ties with Pyongyang. "Korea is our neighbor, and we have to build good relations with our neighbors, however," Putin was quoted as saying by ANTARA, Saturday, September 16.

"Yes, there are some specific things related to the Korean Peninsula. We discuss this openly; we have never violated anything; and in this case we will not violate anything. However, of course we will look for opportunities to develop Russia-North Korea relations," he continued.

Putin said that his meeting with Kim was also not intended to threaten any party or provoke global security. According to him, the biggest threat was created by the current ruling elites, referring to the United States and its allies.

On the same occasion, he also confirmed that Russia had never asked North Korea to send volunteers to take part in their military operations in Ukraine. The allegation, Putin continued, made no sense.

Putin said that there were 300 thousand people who had signed contracts to join the Russian Armed Forces and "ready to sacrifice their lives in the interests of the country, to protect Russia's interests."

"Yes, we gave them some money, which is much larger than our country's average monthly salary," he said.

However, can money make up for death or serious injury? Of course not. Our people who signed this contract are called by the nobleest sense of patrioticism," he added.