Russia-Ukraine war: Donetsk leader urges cooperation with North Korea

North Korea and the Russian-backed separatist Donetsk region of Ukraine will develop "equally beneficial bilateral cooperation".                                

North Korean state media reported on Wednesday that Donetsk leader Denis Pushilin made the comment in a letter to Kim Jong-un, North Korea's leader.

In July, North Korea recognised the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region as independent states. Ukraine immediately severed relations with Pyongyang over the move.

Pushilin wrote a letter to congratulate Kim on the August 15 Korean liberation day, state news agency KCNA reported, two days after reporting a similar message from Russian president Vladimir Putin to Kim.

"The people of the Donbas region, too, are fighting to regain their freedom and justice of history today just as the Korean people did 77 years ago," the report cited Pushilin's letter as saying.

"The message expressed the conviction that an equally beneficial bilateral cooperation agreeing with the interests of the peoples of the two countries will be achieved between the People's Republic of Donetsk and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."