Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday mentioned the possibility of Russia and North Korea holding joint military exercises, TASS reported, amid growing concerns about deepening military cooperation between the two countries.

President Vladimir Putin suggested on Thursday that Russia could hold military drills with North Korea."We'll see. We could also conduct exercises. Why not?," Putin said, when asked whether Moscow would conduct joint military drills with Pyongyang.

The upper house of Russian parliament has ratified a treaty with North Korea envisioning mutual military assistance