Pact with North Korea will protect us both from aggression, says Putin

1. Russia and North Korea have signed a deal to help each other in the event of aggression against them, Putin says
2. Kim Jong Un has said he fully supports Russia's invasion of Ukraine as Putin visits North Korea after 24 years
3. Putin received a red carpet welcome, including roses, waving crowds and ceremonial gunfire following his overnight arrival
4. The Russian president thanked Kim for inviting him to Pyongyang, and said he hopes the next meeting will take place in Moscow
5. The US and South Korea accuse the North of supplying Russia with artillery ammunition in exchange for food and military aid
6. Both countries deny this but Putin is in search of allies since the invasion of Ukraine turned him into a pariah in the West
7. After North Korea, Putin will visit long-time ally Vietnam, where he is expected to discuss trade

Thanks for joining us

Reuters

And that's a wrap. We are closing our live coverage of Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea as he makes his way to Vietnam for more talks.

It's been a whirlwind trip for the Russian leader - full of fanfare and shows of friendship by the two leaders.

• Putin was given a red-carpet welcome by Kim Jong Un when he touched down on the tarmac before dawn. And the North Korean leader was there to wave him off when he departed a short while ago.

• The most significant development of the trip has been the signing of an accord in which Putin and Kim agreed to support each other if either country was dealing with "aggression".

• Kim said he fully supports Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and also called Russia North Korea's “most honest friend”.

• Putin described their meeting as a "breakthrough", and thanked Kim for his “consistent and unwavering support for Russian policy, including in the Ukrainian direction”.

• During his visit Putin was treated to a lavish formal ceremony featuring singing children, military walks and a parade through the streets, with a state reception and gala concert later in the day.

• The pair were also seen smiling and taking a ride in a luxury limo, with Putin taking the wheel. They exchanged gifts including a Russian-made Aurus car, a tea set, and artwork.

Mercedes-Benz spotted at Putin parade despite sanctions

Kathryn Armstrong

Live Reporter

SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Also earlier, we saw Putin and Kim being driven in a car made by the German manufacturer Mercedes-Benz.

There's just one problem - there have been sanctions in place for years banning the export of luxury items to North Korea.

So how are the cars getting there? News organisations including the Wall Street Journal have looked into this.

In a statement, Mercedes-Benz tells the BBC that it "does not do any business with North Korea and is not present in the North Korean market at all, be it through a representative office or any other facility".

They add that they comply with all sanctions and "sales of vehicles by third parties, especially of used vehicles, are beyond our control".

Cod 'in shape of a flower' at state reception

Reuters

One detail we haven't yet brought you is what guests were eating at the state reception for Putin earlier this evening.

Duck liver, braised cod in the shape of a white flower, and Korean noodles were some of the dishes on offer.

Other items on the menu included chicken thanh (soup) with ginseng and pumpkin, and blueberry ice cream.

How will neighbours see the Putin-Kim defence deal?

Laura Bicker

China correspondent

We are fumbling in the dark when it comes to really understanding what President Putin and Kim Jong Un have promised one another.

But the mutual defence pact does appear to be a major reward for Kim who has pledged to support Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

It could have regional repercussions.

Seoul could change its mind about supplying weapons to Ukraine. It could also draw South Korea and Japan closer. The two historical rivals have already set aside some of their differences in the last two years to sign a trilateral agreement with the US in the hope of combating a provocative North Korea and the growing influence of China.

It is unlikely Beijing will show any disapproval in public, but China may be keen to distance itself from this agreement. This is supposed to be a year of friendship between Pyongyang and China as they celebrate 75 years of ties.

Kim should, in theory, meet President Xi at some point this year. Perhaps we will get our first hints at China’s true feelings then.

The US will likely be far more vocal and view this as a rising threat. But the two candidates vying for president have very different views on Putin and Kim.

Russia and North Korea might want to wait to see if they get Joe Biden, who has strengthened US alliances in Asia, or a more unpredictable Donald Trump, who claims he is still in touch with Kim after their three meetings.

Why is Putin going to Vietnam next?

Jonathan Head

BBC South East Asia Correspondent

This is a very old relationship that the Vietnamese still value - one they have described as being "filled with loyalty and gratitude".

The Soviet Union provided the new communist state in North Vietnam in the 1950s with vital military, economic and diplomatic support. Many older Vietnamese have studied in Russia and learned the language.

Getty Images

Putin and the former Vietnamese president Truong Tan Sang in Hanoi in 2013

More recently, Russia has fallen far behind China, parts of Asia, the US, and Europe as a trading partner. But most of Vietnam's weapons are still Russian, and it relies on partnerships with Russian oil companies for exploration in the South China Sea.

So far, Vietnam has abstained on the various UN resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, yet maintained good relations with Ukraine and even sent some aid to Kyiv.

This is all in keeping with Vietnam’s long-held foreign policy of being friends with everyone but avoiding all formal alliances. It's what the communist party leadership now calls "bamboo diplomacy", bending with the buffeting winds of great power rivalries without being forced to take sides.

Putin leaves North Korea for Vietnam

Vladimir Putin has left North Korea by plane, and his visit has come to an end, according to the Russian state-owned news agency Tass.

Kim Jong Un accompanied him all the way to steps of the airplane for the late-night departure, the news agency reports.

Next stop for the Russian president? Vietnam.

Analysts weigh in on Putin's Pyongyang visit

Laura Bicker

China correspondent

Reuters

Analysts across Asia have been watching President Putin’s visit to Pyongyang carefully - and many of them have taken to social media to express their thoughts.

Most are desperate to see the text of the agreement between the two – particularly when it comes to the “mutual defence treaty”.

The Russian leader said each country had agreed to help the other repel external aggression, but it’s unclear exactly what that will mean.

Chad O’Carroll, a North Korean specialist from NK News, says on X, formerly Twitter, that the clause could open the door to conflict-related co-operation, including the possibility of North Korean soldiers assisting Russia in Ukraine.

Victor Cha, the Korea Chair at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, says the pact represents a “renewal of Cold War-era security guarantees”.

Some news headlines are describing the visit as a genuine global threat. However, Aidan Foster-Carter from Leeds University, who has followed North Korea for more than 50 years, took to X to write “calm down”.

Foster-Carter says it is not in Putin’s interests to foment adventure in Korea. Moscow remembers 1950-1953.

Putin thanks North Korea for hosting orphans of Russian soldiers

Laura Gozzi

Europe reporter

During his trip, President Putin revealed that North Korea has been hosting children of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine at the Songdowon summer camp on the country's Pacific coast.

"We highly value this genuine act of care and friendship," Putin said.

He also praised the continued development of tourism ties between North Korea and Russia and highlighted that "summer tours" to Korean seaside resorts are now being organised for Russian groups.

In fact, Russian tourists have been encouraged to visit North Korea for a few months now. In early February, around 100 Russians were allowed to travel to North Korea for a ski trip - the first tourists to be let into the country since the coronavirus pandemic.

Russian TV broadcast images from their stay, focusing on their luxurious hotel and wide slopes - which were all empty.

Russian authorities are clearly trying to paint a positive, attractive picture of North Korea. It is not yet clear whether Russians - who are currently locked out of many tourism destinations in the West, like Italy or France - will be enticed by secretive and isolated North Korea.

The view from Ukraine

Jean Mackenzie

Reporting from Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office has so far not commented on this visit, and may choose to ignore it altogether, as they do not like to give Vladimir Putin a platform.

Instead, Ukraine’s disinformation agency has dismissed both Kim Jong Un and Putin’s statements today as lies and propaganda.

“The visit shows that Putin is looking for any opportunity to continue the war, despite claiming he is ready for peace," it said in a statement.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba earlier said in an interview with the BBC’s HARDTalk programme that this meeting was proof that neither Ukraine nor Russia could fight this war alone.

What it was going to come down to, he said, was how many weapons each sides’ allies were able or willing to send.

The Ukrainians want to keep pushing their message, that this is not just a war in Ukraine but a war of aggression against the world.

As one MP - Kira Rudik, the leader of the Golos Party - told us earlier: “This alliance has been clear to us for a while, but now it is obvious to the rest of the world, and it is a threat to the democratic world."

They said the world needed to issue a strong response – by not only supporting Ukraine militarily, but also tightening sanctions on Russia to “make sure they actually work”.

Gala concert songs evoke war and defence of the fatherland

Ben Tavener

Moscow producer

EPA

A key part of today's planned events in Pyongyang was the gala concert, clips of which have been shared by the RIA Kremlin Pool Telegram channel.

From the clip you can make out a singer performing a song by famous Russian pop singer Shaman, who was one of Vladimir Putin’s official proxies in the March presidential elections.

The song is called “We’ll Stand Up” (Встанем) and was released in early 2022 to mark Russia’s Defenders of the Fatherland Day and is originally said to have been written to mark those who fell in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) as Russia calls its part in World War Two.

However, after President Putin sent troops into Ukraine, some believe the song has become something of an anthem for his “special military operation”.

In the clip, we hear part of the chorus, which in translation sounds like this:"We’ll stand up / Our eternal memory beats strong in our chest between us. We’ll stand up / Heroes of Russia will remain in our hearts to the end."

Russian state media say excerpts from other wartime songs also featured, including “Where the Motherland Begins”, “We Need One Victory” and “Katyusha”, as well as song by groups who regularly support Mr Putin at political rallies.

It came after Mr Putin and Kim Jong Un laid a wreath at the Liberation monument in Pyongyang, which was erected in 1946 in memory of Red Army troops killed while liberating the Korean peninsula from occupying Japanese forces.

Putin and Kim go for a spin in a limo

Reuters

As we've been reporting, Russia's leader has gifted his North Korean counterpart - and rumoured car enthusiast - with a luxury Aurus limousine.

And what better way to celebrate the signing of an accord in which the two countries agreed to support each other in the face of aggression, than with a drive?

The two men were spotted driving along a road before stopping and going for a walk in a wooded area - a small breather in a day packed with official activities, it seems.

You can read more about the gifts exchanged in our piece here: Putin and Kim exchange gifts of limousine, tea set and 'busts' in North Korea

What has happened so far today?

SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

There's been pomp, pomp and more pomp in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, to mark the visit of Russia's leader Vladimir Putin.

Both he and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong Un, have been eager to stress that the two sides share strong ties.

The visit isn't over yet but here are some of the key moments:

• The Russian leader was welcomed in a lavish formal ceremony featuring singing children, military walks and a parade through the streets

• Gifts were exchanged, with Kim reportedly receiving yet another luxury car, an admiral's dagger and a tea set
• The pair did do some business though - speaking together for two hours, according to media reports
• They then signed a deal to help each other in the event of "aggression" against either country - words which our diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams describes as "ominously ambiguous" below

Stay with us as we bring you more updates and analysis from the visit.

An ominously ambiguous commitment

Paul Adams

Diplomatic correspondent

It’s in the interests of both leaders – seen by many as pariahs-in-arms – to describe their new partnership in the boldest terms.

Mr Kim calls it the “strongest ever treaty” which will help to accelerate the creation of a “new multipolar world”.

For Mr Putin, it’s a “breakthrough document”.

But until a formal text is announced, it’s hard to assess what the new deal means in practice.

For Mr Putin, it’s all about the war in Ukraine. He needs every artillery shell and rocket he can lay his hands on.

By South Korean estimates, he’s already received 10,000 containers of assorted munitions from Pyongyang.

Mr Kim has his own needs, highlighted by his country’s recent failure to put a spy satellite into orbit.

Despite sanctions, Russia can still muster the sort of technical expertise that the North Korean leader craves.

What will he actually get?

In his remarks, the Russian leader said he “did not exclude the development of military-technical cooperation with North Korea”.

That sounds like a qualified commitment.

The two countries are clearly upgrading their ties, to the dismay of the western world. China may also have its concerns.

But what do the two countries mean by “mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement”?

Perhaps the two leaders will prefer for that to remain ominously ambiguous.

What can Pyongyang provide - and for how long?

Shaimaa Khalil

Reporting from Seoul

Reuters

In the last two days, we’ve been discussing how desperate Russia is for munition and artillery to replenish its depleted stockpile and how Pyongyang is in a position to provide these things. Here’s a reminder of why that is.

Much of North Korea’s older low-tech weaponry is based on Soviet era technology which means it can be incorporated into Russia’s existing systems. In the last couple of days Washington has yet again repeated its claim that Pyongyang has supplied dozens of ballistic missiles and thousands of containers of munitions to Russia for use in Ukraine.

Both Russia and North Korea deny any arms transfers - which are violations of the UN Security Council resolutions.

One more thing to remember is how limited Pyongyang is in what they can provide to Moscow. It’s unclear how much and for how long they can supply munitions.

But it’s also unclear whether any new weaponry that been recently manufactured in North Korea would be compatible with Russian operating systems or whether they can be mass produced and delivered easily.

Putin touches on mutual assistance, sanctions and weapons supply

Laura Gozzi

Europe reporter

Reuters

President Vladimir Putin has just been speaking in Pyongyang, where he and Kim Jong Un have signed a new agreement.

Here are some key points the Russian leader made:

• Called for the "indefinite restrictive regime inspired by the US and its allies at the UN Security Council" towards North Korea to be "reviewed"
• Revealed the comprehensive partnership agreement signed by the two countries provides "mutual assistance in the event of aggression"
• Highlighted recent statements by the US and other Nato countries about the supply of high-precision long-range weapons systems, F-16 aircraft, and other high-tech weapons and equipment "for inflicting attacks on Russian territory"
• Add that "Russia does not rule out developing the military-technical cooperation" with North Korea

Kim: 'A new level of alliance' with Russia

Jake Kwon

Reporting from Seoul

EPA

Kim Jong Un has told reporters that North Korea will respond “without hesitation” to “incidents or wars” facing either his country or Russia, after signing the new agreement with Moscow.

Kim did not elaborate on what the response will entail or what he views as an “incident or war”.

He was speaking after Russia's President Vladimir Putin revealed to reporters the new pact would provide for "mutual help" in the event of "aggression" against either of them.

“There will be no differences in interpretation, or hesitation, or wavering in carrying out the duty to respond in joined effort to various incidents or wars that are already facing our countries, or will face us in the future,” the North Korean leader said.

Kim has also declared that the relationship between North Korea and Russia is upgraded "to the new level of alliance".

The new treaty between the two countries is “thoroughly peaceful and defensive”, Kim added.

He said the treaty will accelerate the creation of a “multipolar world” where no dominant country can wield hegemonic power.

Pyongyang pulls out the stops for Putin

As we pass midday her in London, it is a good time to have another look at some of the images coming out of Pyongyang today.

It is fair to say North Korea has put on its best show for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who heads to Vietnam later.

Here are a few of the eye-catching images to emerge so far:

SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

North Korean people attend a welcoming ceremony for Vladimir Putin in the capital Pyongyang

SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

People lined the streets to try and catch a glimpse of the two leaders

SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un pose for a photo following bilateral talks

There is a limit to this friendship - and it's China

Laura Bicker

China correspondent

North Korea and Russia are fast friends, but they are not firm friends. One of the major limits is their own relationship with China, which they cannot afford to jeopardise.

So it's not just the United States that is concerned. Beijing too will be watching with a worried eye.

When these two get together, and if North Korea gets hold of better weapons tech, it frightens US allies in the region. This worries China, which is concerned about an "East Asian Nato" - because it does not want any more US assets such as warships in this region.

If Russia is going to give North Korea more tech - analysts are not sure yet if that will happen - it will worry Beijing.

China wants to be a global leader. It doesn't want another Cold War. It wants business with both the US and Europe, and it does not want to cleave itself away from a relationship with the world in the same way that Russia and North Korea have.

South Korea warned Russia: Don’t cross the line

Ahead of today’s meeting between Putin and Kim, Seoul said it received intelligence information that the two leaders would sign agreements on military co-operation.

This prompted South Korean National Security Adviser Chang Ho-jin to warn his Russian counterpart against going “beyond a certain point”.

Chang, a former South Korean ambassador to Russia, said Moscow "should take into consideration which among North Korea and South Korea will be more important to it, once Russia ends its war with Ukraine”.

Now details of the agreement have started to emerge, it remains to be seen whether Moscow has indeed gone "beyond" that point.

It is also worth pointing out that Ukraine has previously unsuccessfully approached South Korea looking for military aid. Might it now rethink its position?

What does the pact mean for Russia's war in Ukraine?

Ben Tavener

Moscow producer

Some details are starting to emerge via Russian news agencies on what is in the agreements signed by Russia and North Korea in Pyongyang today.

Most strikingly, President Vladimir Putin is quoted as saying the "breakthrough document" includes a mutual defence clause: “The comprehensive partnership agreement signed today provides, among other things, for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties."

The agencies also cite Mr Putin as saying North Korea has the right to defend itself and that Russia and North Korea may cooperate militarily, although the agreement is “defensive and peaceful in nature”.

This mutual defence pact may have ramifications for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Could Russia involve North Korea more generally in the conflict, citing Ukrainian attacks on Russian cities such as Belgorod or regions annexed from Ukraine it now considers Russian territory.

Questions will also now be asked about what Russia could do next to alleviate sanctions on North Korea after it recently vetoed the renewal of the UN oversight panel.

Beyond the more headline-grabbing details, the Kremlin says other documents signed include agreements on the construction of a border road bridge and cooperation on health, medical education and science.