Ukraine Cuts Diplomatic Ties with North Korea After Pyongyang Recognizes Breakaway of Russia's Proxies in Kyiv

In support of Russia's conflict against its neighbor, North Korea has become one of the few countries in the world to recognize the independence of two Russian-backed separatist territories in eastern Ukraine.

In reaction, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry severed diplomatic ties with North Korea, condemning Pyongyang's decision as violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Ukraine Cuts Ties With North Korea

North Korea has continuously blamed the United States for the Ukraine crisis, claiming that the West's hegemonic stance justified Russia's strike to protect itself.

North Korea's state media reported Thursday that the country's foreign minister, Choe Sun Hui, had sent letters the day before to leaders in the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk expressing the North's decision to recognize their independence and willingness to develop diplomatic relations with both.

Denis Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk separatists, accepted North Korea's decision on Wednesday. The Donbas area, which includes Luhansk and Donetsk, is a largely Russian-speaking region with steel plants, mining, and other industries in Ukraine's east. Separatists have held sections of both provinces since 2014, but Russian President Vladimir Putin only declared their independence in February, just before the assault began. Syria has since acknowledged their independence, Independent reported.

In a statement, the Ukrainian foreign ministry condemned North Korea's decision to recognize territory described as temporarily held by Russia. "Russia no longer has any supporters in the world, save for those that rely on it financially and politically," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a statement.

According to Kuleba, Russia has asked North Korea to recognize the area, a move that speaks more about Moscow's toxicity than Pyongyang's. Russia recognized the self-proclaimed republics just days before it invaded pro-European neighbor Ukraine on February 24, as per NDTV.

Russian, Ukrainian Officials Talks About War Agenda

Olga Makeyeva, the separatists' Moscow envoy, posted a photo on Telegram early Wednesday of herself receiving a letter of recognition from North Korea's ambassador, Sin Hong-chol. Donetsk and its neighboring Lugansk are located in the Donbas coal area of eastern Ukraine. Pro-Russian soldiers have held partial control of the region since 2014, following Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

Russia has partially justified the 2022 attack by stressing the need to protect the two breakaway republics. Donetsk rebels launched an embassy in Moscow on Tuesday and announced that they were in talks with North Korea about possible recognition. Separatist officials have long expressed a desire for their areas to join Russia.

Ukrainian and Russian officials met face to face for the first time since March, albeit the question of ending the war was not on the agenda. Ukrainian authorities are confident that an agreement will be reached shortly to resume grain shipments across the Black Sea.

Ukraine has been able to ship part of its grain by road and rail, and a new naval route across the Danube estuary is being developed. However, just 2.5 million tonnes were shipped last month, well below the eight million-tonne average before the war, and millions more are awaiting shipment in the Ukrainian port of Odesa.

On Wednesday, Turkey held talks to establish a green corridor through the Black Sea. Any accord, though, will require the endorsement of President Vladimir Putin, who meets Turkey's president in Iran on July 19. After warnings from Moscow, an EU dispute with Russia over the movement of sanctioned products into the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad appears to have been addressed.

Because Kaliningrad is blocked off from the rest of Russia, products must pass via Lithuania to get there. When Lithuania began implementing EU restrictions on commodities traveling by train last month, Russia promised retaliation, according to BBC.