Pyongyong:
In support of Russia's conflict with Ukraine. North Korea has emerged as one of the few countries in the world to recognise the independence of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.
In retaliation, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine ends its diplomatic relationship with North Korea and condemned Pyongyang's action for undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
North Korea claims that the Ukraine crisis has been related to the United States by the West's "hegemonic policy" which pressurised Russia to launch attack in Ukraine to defend itself.
State-run media in North Korea reported on Thursday that the country's foreign minister, Choe Sun Hui, had written to the leaders of the independent regions of Donetsk and Luhansk the day before to inform them that the North had decided to recognise their independence and was prepared to establish diplomatic ties with both. Denis Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk separatist movement, acknowledged North Korea's decision.
The Donbas region located in eastern Ukraine and home to mines steel mills, and other businesses, is made up of the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk. Parts of both provinces have been under the control of separatists since 2014, but Russian President Vladimir Putin only acknowledged their independence just before the invasion started in February. Since then, Syria has also acknowledged their independence.
Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, claimed that Russia's request for assistance from North Korea demonstrates that Moscow has "no more allies in the world, aside from countries that depend on it financially and politically." Due to international sanctions placed on North Korea because of its nuclear and ballistic missile programme, Ukraine had already suspended its political and economic ties with the country.
Using the initials of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kuleba declared in a statement that "the level of isolation of the Russian Federation will soon reach the level of isolation of the DPRK."
The U.N. Security Council, where Russia is a permanent member with veto power, has been effectively paralysed as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, giving North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the opportunity to advance the development of his country's nuclear arsenal and to negotiate the lifting of crippling U.S.-led sanctions from a position of strength.
In 2022 alone, North Korea tested more than 30 missiles, including its first intercontinental ballistic missile flight test in nearly five years. There are hints that the North may be making final preparations for the restart of nuclear explosive tests by reopening tunnels at a nuclear testing facility that was last in use in 2017
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