Russia has established “comprehensive” defense cooperation with North Korea while continuing them its strategic partnerships with India and Chinathe Chief of the Russian Army General Staff said today, Valery Gerasimov, to foreign military followers.

THE Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited North Korea in July, the Russian president Vladimir Putin hosted a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in September, and there have been other exchanges.

The United States and its allies have expressed concern that Kim could be supplying Russia with weapons and ammunition to replace stockpiles used in its war in Ukraine, and South Korean lawmakers have said Russia has helped Pyongyang to launch a spy satellite a month ago.

“The path towards developing a comprehensive strategic partnership with China and India continues. Active, comprehensive cooperation has been established with the DPRK,” Gerasimov said in his year-end speech, using North Korea’s official acronym [Λαϊκή Δημοκρατία της Βόρειας Κορέας].

It did not extend further.

The US has said Russia may be helping North Korea evade Russian-backed UN sanctions that ban cooperation with Pyongyang, mainly on ballistic missile programs and aeronautical technology.

The Kremlin said the claim was “completely baseless”.

As East-West tensions escalate over Russia’s war in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation,” Gerasimov said Moscow remains committed to trying to prevent incidents and maintains “lines of communication to respond to situations crisis,” a reference to military hotlines with Washington.