Russian President Vladimir Putin has presented North Korea with a menagerie of animals, including a lion and two bears, as a gesture of goodwill between Moscow and Pyongyang, according to Russian officials on Wednesday.
The two nations have strengthened their political, military, and cultural bonds amid Russia's ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have frequently expressed their mutual admiration.
The animals gifted include 'an African lion, two brown bears, two domestic yaks, five white cockatoos, 25 pheasants of various species, and 40 mandarin ducks,' according to a statement from Russia's natural resources ministry on Telegram. The ministry also shared videos of the animals being unloaded from a government plane and the lion settling into its new home at the Pyongyang Zoo.
This isn't the first time the leaders have exchanged gifts. Putin previously sent Kim 24 purebred horses, a favorite of Kim's, while Kim reciprocated with a pair of local dogs. The two countries, both under significant Western sanctions, signed a mutual defense pact earlier this year, which requires them to offer immediate military support if either is attacked.
Western capitals, along with Ukraine and South Korea, claim that North Korea has recently dispatched over 10,000 troops to Russia to aid in the conflict against Ukraine's forces.
Source link: https://www.khaleejtimes.com
