North Korea on Wednesday recognized two Russian-backed breakaway "people's republics" in eastern Ukraine as independent states, a separatist leader and North Korea's state-run news agency said.
The move makes North Korea only the third country after Russia and Syria to recognize the two breakaway entities, the Donetsk (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republics (LPR), in Ukraine's Donbas region.
In a post on his Telegram channel, DPR leader Denis Pushilin said he hoped for "fruitful cooperation" and increased trade with North Korea, an isolated, nuclear-armed state more than 6,500 kilometers away.