Russia will continue to promote ties with North Korea despite international criticism, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a briefing with the chiefs of major global and Russian news agencies on Wednesday.

Putin called the DPRK Russia’s neighbor and insisted that the two sides will develop their bilateral relations “whether someone likes it or not,” according to TASS News Agency.

The Russian president also said existing U.N. sanctions against North Korean overseas laborers are “strange,” suggesting that such workers do not pose any threat. 

U.N. Security Council sanctions prohibit DPRK nationals from earning income abroad as they are believed