Donald Trump blamed Russia’s war on Ukraine on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — an escalation of a pattern of sympathetic rhetoric toward the war’s aggressor, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia's ties with North Korea have grown since the start of the Ukraine war on February 24, 2022, particularly as Moscow faces increasing international isolation. In March, Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution, effectively ending international monitoring of sanctions against North Korea.

Russia’s army is forming a unit of some 3,000 North Koreans, a Ukrainian military intelligence source has told the BBC, in the latest report suggesting that Pyongyang is forming a close military alliance with the Kremlin.