< p>Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered humanitarian aid to North Korea to deal with damage from recent floods, the Associated Press reported, citing local media, BTA writes.
Putin expressed his “deep sympathy and support” to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and expressed his readiness to provide immediate disaster relief to help North Korea recover from the floods, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCTA) reported.
„You can always count on us”, Putin told Kim, quoted by the Russian news agency TASS.
Relations between North Korea and Russia have improved significantly amid widespread international belief that North Korea is supplying Russia with weapons for its war in Ukraine in exchange for military and economic aid.
During a meeting in Pyongyang in June, Kim and Putin signed a defense pact in the event of an attack on either side. It is considered the largest defense agreement between the two countries since the end of the Cold War, AP said.
The North Korean leader thanked Russia for the offered help, but Kim specified that North Korea has built its own recovery plans and will ask for Russian help later if needed, KCTA reported.
Heavy rains in North Korea's northwestern region on July 27 flooded 4,100 houses, 7,410 acres of farmland and numerous other public buildings, roads and railways. The extent of casualties is unknown.
On Thursday, South Korea also offered humanitarian aid to North Korea. Observers say Pyongyang is likely to ignore or reject the aid as tensions between the two countries are at one of their highest points in years.