As the war between Russia and Ukraine continued to escalate, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law ratifying a strategic bilateral treaty between North Korea and Moscow. The ratification comes at a time when Ukraine, South Korea and the United States say thousands of North Korean troops are currently deployed near the Ukrainian border.

According to Russian media Tass, Putin signed a law on Saturday ratifying the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between Moscow and Pyongyang. The Russian leader first signed the agreement with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un during his visit to Pyongyang in June this year.

Before Putin’s signing, the lower and upper houses of the Russian parliament approved the bill for ratification earlier this month. The controversial treaty provides that if one party is invaded and placed in a state of war, the other will immediately deploy all means in its possession to provide military and other assistance.

Clashes between North Korean troops and Ukrainian forces in Kursk

Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that North Korean troops deployed in Russia’s Kursk region had fought Ukrainian forces on the battlefield. Zelensky noted that 11,000 North Korean troops are deployed in the region, where Ukraine’s three-month-old military incursion into Russian territory has stalled.

“Eleven thousand North Korean soldiers or soldiers of the North Korean army are currently present on the territory of the Russian Federation, on the border with Ukraine, in the north of our country, in the Kursk region,” he said. Zelensky told reporters at the European Political Community summit in Moscow. Budapest, Hungary, Thursday.

“Some of these troops have already taken part in hostilities against the Ukrainian army. Yes, there are already losses, that’s a fact,” he added. However, the Ukrainian leader did not specify the number of deaths or which side suffered the most.

With the contribution of agencies.