PUTIN SAYS Pact with NoKor will protect us both

A new treaty signed between North Korea and Russia provides for "mutual assistance" in case either country faces aggression, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said yesterday, in an apparent warning to the West.

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• From aggression

Putin visited the repressive state more than two years into Moscow's offensive that has ruptured ties with Western countries, which accuse North Korea of supplying Moscow with weapons for use in Ukraine.

"The comprehensive partnership treaty signed today provides, among other things, for mutual assistance in case of aggression against one of the parties to this treaty," Putin said.

He called it a "breakthrough document" that will bring "our relations to a new level."