Belarus foreign minister to visit North Korea on Tuesday

Moscow ally Belarus’ foreign minister will on Tuesday go to North Korea, a pariah state with which Russia has strengthened ties, for a three-day visit, the Belarusian foreign ministry said.

“On 23-25 July 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Maxim Ryzhenkov, will pay an official return visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK,” the ministry said in a statement in English, referring to the acronym of North Korea’s official name.

Russia used Belarus as a launchpad for its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The European Union last month agreed new sanctions on Belarus over the Ukraine war.

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU had already targeted Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko’s government with repeated rounds of sanctions over its crackdown on protests.

The 27-nation bloc has hit Russia with unprecedented sanctions over its war on Ukraine.

In June, Russian leader Vladimir Putin made his first visit to isolated North Korea in 24 years and signed a strategic treaty with leader Kim Jong Un that included a commitment to come to each other’s aid if attacked.

Washington and its allies accuse North Korea of supplying ammunition and missiles to Russia for its war, and the new treaty has fueled fears of more deliveries.