Vladimir Putin just claimed he and Kim Jong Un will bring “more democracy and stability” to international relations.
Both the Russian president and the North Korean supreme leader are known for their authoritarian governments, making Putin’s promise particularly alarming.
Ahead of his state visit to Kim’s country today, Putin wrote for the newspaper Rodong Sinmun, which serves as a mouthpiece for Kim’s Workers’ Party of Korea.
According to a translation from the Russian state-owned agency Tass, Putin promised: “We are ready to closely work together to bring more democracy and stability to international relations.
’To do this, we will develop alternative trade and mutual settlements mechanisms not controlled by the West, jointly oppose illegitimate unilateral restrictions, and shape the architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia.”
Putin was re-elected for his fifth presidential term in March but the vote was widely condemned as a sham because many of the electorate were coerced into supporting him.
The president has also suppressed any feasible political opponents, including the late Alexei Navalny, since getting into power in 1999.
Meanwhile, Kim Jong Un inherited his position from his father and his grandfather.
Both leaders are known to rule with an iron fist to stay in power.
Putin also praised North Korea in his newspaper article, saying it was “ready to confront the ambition of the collective West to prevent the emergence of a world order based on justice, mutual respect for sovereignty and consideration of each other’s interests”.
The Russian president has been suppressing Ukraine’s sovereignty for more than two years now.
He then falsely accused the US of imposing a “global neo-colonial dictatorship relying on double standards”, a claim he has made repeatedly since invading Ukraine in 2022.
His trip to North Korea is seen as two fingers up at the restrictions the West have imposed on him.
Western sanctions meant to cripple the Russian economy after the Ukraine war began have not had their desired effect because other countries – like China and North Korea – continue to trade with Moscow.
Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court also issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023 for the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children.
Any country which is a signatory to the ICC would have to deport Putin.
Rather than hide in Russia, the president now only travels to countries which do not adhere to the court.