Military cooperation between Russia and North Korea “does not pose a threat to anyone,” ​​Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday, weeks after his high-profile visit to Pyongyang raised speculation that he sought to purchase DPRK arms for the war in Ukraine.

Shoigu’s speech at a security conference in Moscow comes after he held defense talks with his North Korean counterparts, toured a weapons exhibition with DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and watched nuclear missiles roll through Pyongyang during a large-scale military parade in late July.