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AMNA NAWAZ: Russian and
North Korea have taken a step
toward improving relations,

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as President Vladimir Putin
and Kim Jong-un signed a
strategic partnership agreement

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today. Both sides pledged
to help each other's
defense and security and
to fight off sanctions.

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Stephanie Sy has the story.

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STEPHANIE SY: As the Russian
jet rolled in to Pyongyang,

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the North Koreans rolled
out the red carpet. Leader
Kim Jong-un welcomed

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President Vladimir Putin
to North Korea for the
first time in 24 years.

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As Putin looks for support
for his war in Ukraine, Kim
hopes to find an economic and

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military ally. The tone for the
summit was set with a sturdy
embrace. In recent years,

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the countries have flirted
with stronger ties. Kim Jong-un
first traveled to Russia

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in 2019 and again in 2023 to
meet Putin. But neither trip
produced a formal alliance.

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The U.S. accuses North Korea
of sending ammunition and
weapons to Russia for its

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war in Ukraine and worries
that, in exchange, Russia is
boosting North Korea's nuclear

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program. Kim and Putin have
denied it, since such a trade
would violate U.N. sanctions.

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But, in March, a Russian veto on
the Security Council ended the

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U.N.'s monitoring of nuclear
sanctions on North Korea
and raised alarm bells.

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VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian
President (through
translator): We highly
appreciate your consistent

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and unwavering support for
Russian policy. I'm referring to
our fight against the hegemonic

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policy imposed for decades,
the imperialist policy
of the United States
and its satellites.

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STEPHANIE SY: Today's
summit formalized the

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strongest relationship
between the two countries
since the Cold War.

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KIM JONG-UN, North Korean
Leader (through translator):
Our two countries' relations

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have been elevated to a
new high-level of alliance,

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laying the legal groundwork
for the grand ideas of
leadership of the two countries.

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STEPHANIE SY: The treaty
includes military-technical
cooperation between the two

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countries, a mutual defense
pact and opposition to Western
sanctions against North Korea.

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Before the agreement was
announced, the Pentagon
raised red flags.

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MAJ. GEN. PATRICK
RYDER, Pentagon Press
Secretary: The deepening

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cooperation between Russia
and the DPRK is something
that should be of concern.

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JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO
Secretary-General: What
happens in Europe matters for

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Asia and what happens
in Asia matters for us.

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STEPHANIE SY: NATO
Secretary-General Jens
Stoltenberg appeared with

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Secretary of State
Antony Blinken yesterday
ahead of the summit.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S.
Secretary of State: We have
seen, as you have said,

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Russia try in desperation
to develop and to
strengthen relations
with countries that can

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provide it with what it needs to
continue the war of aggression
that it started against Ukraine.

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STEPHANIE SY: In Pyongyang,
the state visit came to an
end with dinner and drinks,

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as the two leaders made a show
of their deepening partnership.

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While the details of what
the Russians and North

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Koreans agreed to has not
been made public, some
observers are concerned.

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For more, we turn to Robert
Gallucci. He was the U.S. State
Department's lead negotiator

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with North Korea in 1994,
when the North agreed to
freeze its nuclear program in

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exchange for economic benefits.
He's also a professor at
Georgetown University.

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Robert, thank you so much
for joining the "NewsHour."

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So, Putin and Kim announced
they signed a comprehensive
strategic partnership treaty,

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and Putin called it a
breakthrough document.
As we start to see
some details come out,

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do you see it that
way? Is it a big deal?

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ROBERT GALLUCCI, Georgetown
University: It is
important and negative.
I think it is both those

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things. But it's not a
fundamental change in the nature
of relations of major states.

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It isn't good news in terms
of what the North Koreans have
been supplying the Russians,

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so that they can more
effectively prosecute
their invasion and war

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against Ukraine. That's not
good news. And on the other
hand, we can't be really

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sure what it is exactly
the Russians are going to
transfer to the North Koreans.

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STEPHANIE SY: Yes, let's
break down the significant
parts of what we do know,

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starting with what Putin called
military technical cooperation.

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Do you think that is a
concerning development,
the announcement of that?
And what could it mean

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as far as Pyongyang's
nuclear weapons capability?
What could they transfer?

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ROBERT GALLUCCI: The key
issue is, will the Russians
materially assist the North

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Koreans in having a more
effective, more threatening
nuclear weapons capability?

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And by that, I mean not only
the weapons themselves. Will
they be thermonuclear weapons

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assistance, as opposed to simple
fission weapons? Will now their
yield go up? Will the confidence

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that North Koreans have in their
weapons go up, thanks to Russian
assistance? Will the delivery

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vehicles, the ballistic
missiles, particularly
the intercontinental
ballistic missiles?

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There have for a long time been
real questions about whether the
North should have any confidence

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in their ICBMs, their ability to
deliver nuclear weapons against
the continental United States,

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given that they can't be sure
that the warheads containing
these nuclear weapons

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would actually survive
the trip and reentry
and work effectively.

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And it's not clear at all
when, in what we understand
will be the language of this,

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when and if it's released, that
the Russians are committing
to these kinds of transfers.

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STEPHANIE SY: I assume
those would be violations of
international law and sanctions.

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Both countries have been
under varying sanctions,
especially North Korea. And if

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you believe U.S. officials,
both are already violating these
sanctions through these arms

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and ammunition transfers to do
with Ukraine. You have engaged
in high-level diplomacy with

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North Korea in the past. What
can and should be done now
by the Biden administration?

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ROBERT GALLUCCI: We
should deplore what the
Russian moves signals,

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and that is first no longer a
willingness on the part of the
Russians to see the direction

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of events to lead to an
eventual denuclearization
of the peninsula.

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In other words, the Russians had
been aboard with the Chinese and
sort of the rest of the world

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at sanctioning, U.N.
sanctions, sanctioning
the North Koreans for

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their ballistic missile and
nuclear weapons development.

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I think this, if it does
nothing else, signals
the Russians are no

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longer aboard. And that
ought to be deplored. It
ought to be criticized.

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STEPHANIE SY: You said
it was bad news. Is it
also bad news that part

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of this agreement includes
a mutual defense pact?

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ROBERT GALLUCCI: I do
not know what it means. I
certainly -- even if I had the

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text in front of me -- and
nobody does, as I understand
it -- it is hard to tell.

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I mean, when the Russians
make a deal, and it's -- they
have been clear -- they don't

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call it an alliance. The
North called it an alliance,
but not the Russians. I mean,

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the last time the Russians
made a security commitment that
I know of like this was 1994

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in the Budapest Memorandum when
they promised that they would
not threaten Ukraine's security.

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Well, we all know what that was
worth. We all ought to remember
nothing has changed here,

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really. The North has been
providing this military
aid to the Russians. The

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Russians are still pursuing
their invasion of Ukraine.

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We have talked about the one
thing that might be important
and different, and that

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is if the Russians started
supplying technical
assistance to the weapons
of mass destruction

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and delivery vehicles
that the North Koreans
have been developing
for the last 25 years.

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STEPHANIE SY: Robert
Gallucci, thank you so much
for joining us with your
analysis. Appreciate it.

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ROBERT GALLUCCI: Thank you much.