DPRK Fully Supports Russia's Actions to Protect Sovereignty - Kim Yo Jong

PYONGYANG, August 19. /TASS/. The DPRK fully supports Russia's actions to protect its sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity, Kim Yo Jong, department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea has said. "We fully support and approve of the just actions of the Russian government and people to protect state sovereignty, security interests, and territorial integrity," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted her as saying. Kim Yo Jong noted that Pyongyang's position, according to which one of the main causes of the Ukrainian crisis was the systematically growing threats to Russia's security from the United States and the West since the end of the Cold War, remains unchanged. She added that sustainable peace in Europe is impossible without taking Russia's key interests into account. She also dismissed reports of additional North Korean troops being sent to the conflict in Ukraine, calling them "a completely groundless fabrication staged by Kiev." Kim Yo Jong placed responsibility for the outbreak and continuation of the Ukrainian crisis on the United States and other Western countries. She emphasized that cooperation between North Korea and Russia is carried out in accordance with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty and the principles of the UN Charter. According to her, Pyongyang responsibly fulfills its allied obligations under the treaty.