North Korea became the third country to recognize two Russia-backed separatist states in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, prompting Kyiv to cut diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.

According to North Korean state media on Thursday, DPRK foreign minister Choe Sou Hui informed the breakaway regions that Pyongyang recognizes the “independence of the People’s Republic of Donetsk and the People’s Republic of Luhansk” and expressed the North’s desire to develop state-to-state relations.

Donetsk’s embassy in Moscow also announced the news in a Telegram postWednesday, sharing a photo of DPRK Ambassador to Russia Sin Hong Chul giving a Donetsk representative what it