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Russia’s Putin offers disaster aid to North Korea to help it cope with recent flooding damage

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered humanitarian assistance to help North Korea cope with damages from recent floods, both countries said, in another sign of expanding relations between the two nations.

In a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday, Putin “extended deep sympathy and support” and conveyed his willingness to provide immediate disaster aid to help North Korea recover from the floods, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday.

Russia’s state news agency Tass carried a similar report, saying that Putin told Kim in the message: “You can always count on our assistance and support.”

During a meeting in Pyongyang in June, Kim and Putin signed a pact stipulating mutual military assistance if either country is attacked, in what was considered the two countries› biggest defense deal since the end of the Cold War.

Kim expressed his gratitude to Putin over the offer for aid, saying he “could deeply feel the special emotion towards a genuine friend in the most difficult period.”

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