Overview
- Kim Jong Un hosted Alexander Lukashenko in Pyongyang, where the two leaders signed a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.
- State outlets showed lavish pageantry and gift exchanges, including Lukashenko giving Kim an assault rifle as he joked about enemies.
- Belarus said the partners will expand work in education, health care, agriculture and information, with possible exports of Belarusian medicines and food.
- The meeting underscored their backing for Russia’s war, with reports of North Korean munitions and troops aiding operations near Kursk and Belarus hosting Russian forces and tactical nuclear weapons.
- Both governments remain under Western sanctions, and the trip followed Minsk’s outreach to Washington that included a meeting with President Trump’s envoy John Coale and the release of 250 detainees.