New Delhi: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in a message on Monday vowed to "hold hands" with Russian President Vladimir Putin and offered his country's "full support and solidarity" to Moscow, state media KCNA reported.
He pledged to bolster strategic cooperation on their shared goal of building a powerful country.
Kim sent the message of congratulations on the national day of Russia, one of a handful of nations that maintain friendly relations with Pyongyang.
In the message, Kim defended Putin's decision to invade Ukraine and displayed "full support and solidarity."
The North Korean people, it added, extend "full support and solidarity to the Russian people in their all-out struggle for implementing the sacred cause to preserve the sovereign rights, development and interests of their country against the imperialists' high-handed and arbitrary practices."
"Justice is sure to win and the Russian people will continue to add glory to the history of victory," Kim said in the message published by KCNA.
Kim called for "closer strategic cooperation" with Moscow, "holding hands firmly with the Russian president, in conformity with the common desire of the peoples of the two countries to fulfil the grand goal of building a powerful country," it added.
North Korea has sought to forge closer ties with the Kremlin and backed Moscow after it invaded Ukraine last year, blaming the "hegemonic policy" and "high-handedness" of the United States and the West.
In January, the United States accused North Korea of supplying rockets and missiles to the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Pyongyang denied that allegation.
Again in March, Washington claimed to have proof that Moscow was looking to Pyongyang to supply weapons for its offensive in Ukraine, in return for food aid for impoverished North Korea.
This is the latest message of support from Pyongyang to Moscow since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.