According to the Kremlin, its mutual defense pact with North Korea is “unambiguous”

Russia stated Tuesday that a pact it signed with North Korea earlier this year calls for “strategic cooperation” in all fields, but it would not elaborate on how the agreement’s mutual defense clause might be implemented.

During his June visit to Pyongyang, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the pact with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He claimed that it contained a mutual assistance clause that committed both parties to assisting one another in fending off outside aggression.

Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for the Kremlin, responded that the treaty’s language was “quite unambiguous” and did not require further explanation when asked if this implied that Russia would be persuaded to support Pyongyang in a battle on the Korean peninsula or that North Korea might support Russia in a conflict with the West.

Peskov told reporters that the agreement “implies truly strategic deep cooperation in all areas, including security.”

South Korea’s military fired warning shots after North Korea detonated parts of inter-Korean roadways and train lines on its side of the heavily guarded border, escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula.

This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused North Korea of sending personnel to Russia’s military, claiming that he had been informed by his intelligence services about “the actual involvement of North Korea in the war” in Ukraine.

According to the US, North Korea has given Russia ammunition and ballistic missiles. Despite their denials of arms shipments, Pyongyang and Moscow have pledged to strengthen their military cooperation, maybe through joint exercises. Last week, Peskov declared that the claims of North Korean forces’ involvement in Ukraine were untrue.

When asked if a mutual defense clause might be included in a future partnership pact between Russia and Iran, Peskov responded on Tuesday, “No. We will be able to discuss its substance once it is prepared.