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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un toasted his “closest comrade” Vladimir Putin on Monday in a birthday message that claimed the countries’ deepening military alliance would make them “invincible”.
The increasingly isolated Russian president turned 72 on Monday and received well-wishes from a small group of international backers, including Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko and the Chechyan strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.
Addressing his message to “my closest comrade Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin”, Mr Kim said the two leaders would take relations between Russia and North Korea to a new level, state news agency KCNA reported on Tuesday.
“I am now recollecting with deep emotion the days when we developed the traditional DPRK-Russia relations into the invincible alliance relations and eternal strategic relations,” Mr Kim said, referring to his country by its official name of Democratic People’s …