Overview
- BelTA said the leaders signed a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in Pyongyang on Thursday, setting up roughly 10 follow‑on agreements on areas like education, agriculture and health.
- Kim hosted a state welcome at Kim Il Sung Square with national anthems, a 21‑gun salute and an honor guard, and Lukashenko later laid flowers at the Liberation Tower and the Kumsusan mausoleum with a bouquet sent by Vladimir Putin.
- The deal extends coordination among countries that support Russia’s war in Ukraine, with South Korean and Western agencies reporting North Korean troops and munitions for Moscow as Belarus provided staging ground and hosts Russian tactical nuclear weapons.
- Belarusian officials cast the treaty as a shift to a new stage in ties, and North Korean state media presented it as a legal base for steady cooperation across government ministries.
- The visit follows a recent thaw between Minsk and Washington, after Lukashenko met President Trump’s envoy last week and ordered the release of 250 prisoners as the United States eased some sanctions.