Kim Jong Un made the comments at the groundbreaking ceremony for a memorial for North Korean soldiers who fought for Russia in its war with Ukraine, state media said.

U.S. allies worry that American volatility and Russian outreach and arms sales, in particular, are driving Vietnam into a new phase.

During his first term, Trump met Kim on three occasions in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arsenal in exchange for a partial lifting of sanctions. In a speech last month, Kim said there was no reason not to reenter talks with the U.S.—as long as Washington abandons denuclearization as a precondition.

North Korea performed its first ballistic missile tests in five months Wednesday, days before U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders are expected to meet in South Korea. South Korea's military detected multiple suspected short-range ballistic missiles launched from an area south of Pyongyang,

When they are not fighting, they write poetry, letters home or words of praise to their supreme commander,” said one of the directors at Moscow's Museum of Victory.