Putin to visit North Korea and meet with Kim Jong Un in show of unity against the west
Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea on Tuesday to meet with Kim Jong Un in a show of unity against the west, officials said.
Putin will be in Pyongyang for two days, his first trip to North Korea in 24 years, after Kim offered to host the Russian president last year, officials from both countries said.
The trip could conclude with Putin and Kim signing a partnership agreement that would include security issues, according to Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov.
The possible agreement would “outline prospects for further cooperation, and will be signed taking into account what has happened between our countries in recent years – in the field of international politics, in the field of economics… including, of course, taking into account security issues,” Ushakov said.
The meeting undermines the West’s efforts to keep Putin isolated amid the Ukraine war, with North Korea serving as one of his few allies who are accused of actively providing Moscow with artillery and military equipment.
A United Nation’s report earlier this year found that at least one ballistic missile fired from Russia against Ukraine was made in North Korea, with Kyiv alleging that about 50 such missiles were delivered from Pyongyang.
US and South Korean officials fear that in exchange for munitions, Russia may be providing North Korea with military technology capable of advancing Kim’s nuclear weapons program.
Both Russian and North Korean officials have denied the alleged arms deal.
Kim has been greatly anticipating the meeting, saying in a June 12 speech that it will help secure “meaningful ties and close comradeship” with the Kremlin.
“Our people give full support and solidarity to the successful work of the Russian army and people,” Kim said, according to the state Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
Following his visit to North Korea, Putin is expected to travel to Vietnam for another two-day trip to meet with communist leaders, according to officials in Hanoi.
Putin’s Asian tour comes after the G7 summit in Italy, where world leaders met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and called on Russia to end its invasion.
The G7 also undermined Putin by agreeing to use profits from frozen Russian assets to loan Ukraine $50 billion to support them in the war.
With Post wires.
