MOSCOW, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia on Tuesday ahead of a meeting with President Vladimir Putin that the United States has warned could see an arms deal to support Moscow’s assault on Ukraine.
Making a rare foreign trip and his first since the pandemic, Kim was seen stepping onto a red-carpeted train platform before meeting Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov.
Kim and Putin are expected to meet at an unspecified location in Russia’s Far East later this week, the Kremlin has said.
Putin is currently attending the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, the Pacific port city closest to the North Korean border, though there has been no indication that the internationally isolated pair would hold their talks there.
Reporters granted access to the Russian leader at the forum refrained from asking Putin details of the visit but he told journalists he would soon travel to the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport some 1,000 kilometres from Vladivostok.
“I’ve got my programme there, and when I get there you’ll know,” he was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.
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 supplies Russia with weaponry for the conflict in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Kim would “cooperate on sensitive areas that should not be the subject of public disclosure and announcements”.
Kim is travelling to Russia with his top military officials including Korean People’s Army Marshal Pak Jong Chon and Munitions Industry Department Director Jo Chun Ryong, analysts said.
Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied North Korea has or will supply arms to Russia, which has eaten into its vast stockpiles of munitions since it launched its Ukraine offensive early last year.
Kim has not travelled outside North Korea since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. His last proper overseas trip was in 2019, also to Russia to meet Putin.
On Monday, the United States described Putin as desperate in seeking a meeting with Kim.
“I will remind both countries that any transfer of arms from North Korea to Russia would be in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Washington has said Russia could use weapons from North Korea to attack Ukrainian food supplies and heating infrastructure heading into winter to “try to conquer territory that belongs to another sovereign nation”. — NNN-AGENCIES
