Kim Jong-un wrote to Vladimir Putin promising to boost ties as North Korea and Russia marked the 75th anniversary of bilateral relations.

The North Korean leader congratulated the Russian president on his victory over what he called “hegemony and pressure from imperialists”. He also wished his Russian ally luck in resisting pressure from their common nemesis West over Ukraine.

The exchange of letters comes nearly a month after Mr Kim made a six-day visit to Russia, his first known foreign trip since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, where the two isolated leaders met to discuss ways to prop up each other’s regime.

In his letter, Mr Kim wrote that he was extremely satisfied with their “candid, comprehensive” talks during his recent visit to Russia’s far east last month, and that he wanted to further develop the countries’ relations to reach “new heights”.

“I hope that the Russian people, who have set out to build a strong nation, will always achieve only victory and glory in their struggle to protect the country’s sovereignty, dignity, security and peace by crushing the imperialists’ persistent hegemonic policy and anti-Russia scheme to isolate and stifle it,” the North Korean leader said, as reported by Pyongyang’s state media KCNA.

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