North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, visits a fertilizer factory in Sunchon, South Pyongan province, near Pyongyang, North Korea in this May 1 file photo. Korea News Service via AP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Saturday, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, the North's state news agency reported.

Kim expressed the belief that friendly relations between the two countries would steadily develop and expressed hopes that Putin would achieve victory in preventing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said