The White House, which had already called on the two countries to “cease” their talks, reiterated that the North Korean leader wanted a “diplomatic exchange” with Vladimir Putin in Russia.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants “a high-level diplomatic exchange” in Russia with President Vladimir Putin to discuss Pyongyang’s arms sale to Moscow, the White House said Monday.
“As we have stated, arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea are actively progressing,” said Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council.
And “we know that Kim Jong-Un wants these negotiations to continue, including high-level diplomatic exchanges in Russia,” she added in an email to the press.
A call to “stop” the discussions.
Already on Wednesday, the chief spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby, expressed his concern about the rapid progress of these negotiations on future arms deliveries from Pyongyang to Moscow and called on the communist regime to “stop” these talks.
John Kirby announced that “as a result of these potential agreements, Russia would receive significant quantities” of weapons, particularly ammunition for artillery, as well as raw materials for its defense industry.
These weapons would be “used against Ukraine,” added American UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
The White House on Monday again condemned Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s late July visit to North Korea, where he attended a military parade alongside Kim Jong Un to “persuade Pyongyang to sell Russia’s artillery ammunition.”
For Washington, such agreements between Moscow and Pyongyang would violate “Security Council resolutions” against North Korea.
In mid-August, President Putin and North Korea advocated increased cooperation, particularly in defense, a new example of the rapprochement between these two US adversaries since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.