On Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin as Washington warns of a possible arms deal for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia Tuesday before meeting with President Vladimir Putin, whom the United States has warned could see an arms deal to support Moscow’s assault on Ukraine.
France said the North Korean leader’s visit shows Russia international “isolation.”
Making a rare foreign trip and his first since the pandemic, an unsmiling Kim waved from the doorway of his heavily armored private train as it departed Pyongyang on Sunday evening, according to images published by North Korean state media.
Kim will meet Putin at an unspecified location in Russia’s Far East region later this week, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Putin is attending the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, the Far East city closest to the North Korean border. However, there has been no indication that the internationally isolated pair would hold their talks there.
Experts say Moscow will likely seek artillery shells and antitank missiles from North Korea, which wants advanced satellite and nuclear-powered submarine technology in return.
The White House warned last week that North Korea would “pay a price” if it supplied Russia with weaponry for the conflict in Ukraine.
Defying the warnings, Kim left North Korea for Russia on Sunday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
It added that top North Korean military officials, including officials in charge of weapons production and space technology, accompanied him.
Moscow and Pyongyang have denied North Korea has or will supply arms to Russia, which has eaten into its vast stockpiles of munitions fighting since it launched its assault on Ukraine early last year.
Miroslava Salazar, with AFP
