North Korea’s defense minister accused the U.S. of escalating military tensions in Europe and Northeast Asia in a speech to a Russian security conference on Tuesday, insisting that “physical force” is the only way to maintain peace.

In his remarks, Kang Sun Nam brushed off the possibility of diplomatic dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington, while seeking to draw parallels between alleged U.S. aggression toward the DPRK and Russia.

The defense chief also expressed “full support for the military forces and people of Russia who are waging an implacable struggle … to defend their sovereign rights and security interests,” reiterating North Korea’s backing of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

A North Korean Embassy official delivered the speech on Kang’s behalf at the Moscow Conference on International Security on Tuesday, an annual forum held by the Russian defense ministry since 2012.

Earlier at the conference, Kang’s Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu delivered a speech touting the DPRK’s success in ensuring its security under Kim Jong Un and stating that military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow “does not pose a threat to anyone.”

North Korea and Russia have been actively supporting each other on the international stage since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, with the U.S. accusing the DPRK of providing weapons to Russia. This week’s conference also follows Shoigu’s high-profile visit to Pyongyang last month to discuss security cooperation.

Chris Monday, an expert on the Russian economy at Dongseo University, told NK News that the Russian diplomacy toward North Korea “makes Putin seem more active and engaged in the war,” while helping the Russian president “shore up support with his right wing.”

He noted that the Kremlin’s main far-right ideologists, including Alexander Prokhanov, “have heralded North Korea’s Juche as a kind of model for Russia.”

But Monday added that the rapprochement with North Korea “will scare off Russia’s moderate partners, such as India and Brazil,” while potentially angering Russian domestic authorities who want to “maintain the facade of a carefree lifestyle in the cities” amid the ongoing war.

“Russians might start to fear: maybe we will become the next North Korea?” the expert said, adding that “perhaps for these reasons, North Korean statements were downplayed on Russian state news.”

In his speech to the Moscow conference, DPRK defense minister Kang recited a familiar litany of complaints about U.S. military activities. He accused Washington of creating “a nuclear war mania,” citing visits to South Korea by a U.S. nuclear missile-armed submarine and aircraft carriers as well as  joint U.S.-ROK military exercises set to kick off next week.

He also criticized the U.S. and South Korea’s Washington Declaration and Nuclear Consultative Group as mechanisms that pose a nuclear threat to the DPRK.

“We firmly believe that it is impossible to resolve any issues through dialog and negotiation, unless the U.S. recognizes the utter failure of its hostile policy toward the DPRK, and finally and irrevocably abandons its confrontational line forever.”

He added that “physical force is the only means to preserve peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the region.”

Kang also reiterated that the DPRK possesses its own nuclear capabilities that “can cover the entire U.S. territory,” threatening Washington of “an inevitable and insurmountable downfall.”

Edited by Bryan Betts