North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia on Tuesday for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Washington said could lead to an arms sales deal to support Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.
• Also read: Kim Jong-un’s armored train, a James Bond-style moving fortress
• Also read: Kim Jong-un in Russia: Putin is forced to “beg” North Korea for help, says Washington
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the two men will have to talk in particular about “sensitive topics” in the coming days.
Kim Jong Un left Pyongyang on an armored train on Sunday evening, making his first trip abroad since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. He had already met Mr Putin during his previous foreign trip to Vladivostok in 2019.
Mr Kim is expected to meet him somewhere in the Russian Far East in the coming days. Moscow did not announce the date or location of the meeting.
- Listen to Luc Lavoie’s analysis on Yasmine Abdelfadel’s microphone QUB radio :
However, Russian authorities released images showing the North Korean number one being received by a delegation and a guard of honor at the Khassan train station near the border.
According to the Governor of Primorye Region Oleg Kojemiako, Kim Jong Un spoke with Russian Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Alexander Kozlov during this stop.
“A visit of this kind is a good message for the development (…) of direct contacts with our colleagues from North Korea,” commented Mr. Kojemiako on Telegram.
Vladimir Putin, who is currently in Vladivostok for an annual economic forum that ends Wednesday, was not asked about the North Korean leader’s trip despite a lengthy question-and-answer session.
The Russian president said only that he would soon go to the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a thousand kilometers as the crow flies from Vladivostok, and refused to elaborate on what he planned to do there.
armor
His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told Russian media that MM. Putin and Kim were discussing “sensitive” issues without paying attention to American “warnings.”
Washington fears that Russia will source weapons for its military operations in Ukraine from North Korea, which is itself under sanctions over its nuclear and missile development programs.
“When building our relations with our neighbors, including North Korea, what is important to us is the interests of our countries, not the warnings of Washington,” Peskov said.
According to the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, the train journey from Pyongyang to Vladivostok will take at least 20 hours, based on the assumption that Mr. Kim’s special, armored and very heavy train travels at about 60 km/h.
According to official media, he will be accompanied by high-ranking military officials, including his defense minister, as well as executives from the defense production apparatus and the space technology sector.
According to experts, the meeting between MM. Putin and Kim could focus on an arms deal, as Mr. Putin would seek to acquire anti-tank grenades and missiles.
Historical Links
For Siemon T. Wezeman of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, “it is entirely credible that North Korea has significant stockpiles of ammunition compatible with the artillery systems of the Russian armed forces.”
Such an agreement would represent “a clear violation” of UN resolutions that sanction North Korea, the expert says.
For its part, Pyongyang is reportedly seeking cutting-edge technology for nuclear-powered satellites and submarines, as well as food aid.
Washington ridiculed that meeting, seeing it as a sign that Mr. Putin was “begging” for help in carrying out his operations in Ukraine. For Paris, Mr. Kim’s current trip is the visible “sign” of Moscow’s isolation.
Russia and North Korea have historic ties and Kim Jong Un has repeatedly expressed support for the Russians in their offensive in Ukraine.
For Andrei Lankov of Seoul’s Kookmin University, a Putin-Kim summit is part of Moscow’s “friendly diplomatic blackmail” against Seoul because Russia wants to dissuade the South Koreans from supplying military equipment to Ukraine.
South Korea is a major arms exporter. It has sold some to Poland, an ally of Kiev, but its policy is never to supply any to parties directly involved in armed conflict.