North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed a friendship treaty yesterday aimed at deepening ties between two close allies of Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Lukashenko’s trip to Pyongyang highlighted a diplomatic balancing act, as he strengthens links with countries friendly to Russia and hostile to the West while trying to normalise relations with Washington.
His visit followed a meeting last week with US President Donald Trump’s envoy John Coale and the release of 250 political prisoners in return for a further easing of US sanctions on Belarus.
Belarusian state news agency Belta quoted Lukashenko as telling Kim that relations between their countries were entering a “fundamentally new stage”.
It quoted Kim as saying the two sides shared joint positions on many issues, and that “we oppose undue pressure on Belarus from the West”.
Both countries have backed Russia in its war in Ukraine.
Kim has provided Moscow with millions of rounds of ammunition and sent troops to help Russia expel Ukrainian forces who invaded its western Kursk region in 2024 as part of the war in Ukraine.
Lukashenko allowed Belarus to be used as a launchpad for Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and subsequently agreed to host Russian tactical nuclear missiles on its territory, which borders three Nato alliance countries.
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