North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin “in the coming days,” the Kremlin said Monday, adding to growing fears about deepening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang as the isolated state prepares to arm Russia in its war. .
Kim will stop in Russia at Putin’s invitation, the Kremlin said in a statement, confirming the hypothesis that a meeting between the two leaders is imminent.
The Kremlin gave the main points about the meeting, adding its location, time and purpose, but Putin arrived in the eastern Russian port city of Vladivostok on Monday to attend the Eastern Economic Forum.
The city is the most likely venue for the assembly — it’s close to North Korea and is the site of Putin and Kim’s first and only assembly in 2019 — and Putin is expected to stay in Vladivostok at least until Tuesday, when he’s expected to return. Make a speech.
North Korean state media also showed that it has not yet provided additional details.
South Korean media citing the unnamed government reported Monday that an exercise left Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, for Russia on Sunday night.
Reports suggested the exercise would bring Kim to Russia for a possible meeting with Putin, which U. S. officials said last week was in the works and would likely take place in the near future.
The exact nature, time and place of the meeting were not disclosed. If the exercise coming out of North Korea really does get Kim to a meeting in Russia, it will most likely be in his private armored exercise: a slow, undoubtedly sumptuous vehicle that contrasts sharply with the poverty that prevails in much of North Korea. In Vladivostok and reports hint that an assembly could take a position as early as Tuesday.
The Kim news was first reported through the media in early September, mentioning US and allied officials. Details about the stopover were scarce, and neither Pyongyang nor Moscow publicly showed that the stopover was taking place. Although Washington did not verify whether intelligence services had warned that a meeting was imminent, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said the United States expected “diplomatic engagement at the leadership level” on weapons between the two countries. reported the New York Times. Watson also told ABC News that arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea are “actively progressing. ” The meeting follows a visit by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to Pyongyang in late July, where he promised closer economic and political ties with the isolated state and said they were Moscow’s growing global isolation and its decision to revitalizing ties with pariah states like North Korea have alarmed analysts, who see Russia potentially returning to a Cold War-style policy and supporting Pyongyang’s ambitions to expand its war-making capabilities and violate foreign norms. due.
Kim rarely leaves North Korea and this holiday marks his first overseas stop since the country closed its borders in 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, any travel through the North Korean leader is significant and the summit will most likely be the Kremlin’s aid to Pyongyang can have serious repercussions for both sides, as any deal could violate foreign sanctions and further destabilize the region and global geopolitics. National security adviser Jake Sullivan warned that any arms deal “would not have a slight effect on North Korea and would pay the price” in the global community. It says a lot about the fact that Russia wants to look at a country like North Korea looking to strengthen its defense capability,” Sullivan added.
10. This is the number of foreign trips Kim Jong Un has made since he forcibly arrived here following his father’s death in 2011, adding the latest to Russia. He travels primarily, though not exclusively, aboard a special armored exercise and would be incredibly wary of security threats when traveling abroad. He has made four trips to China and one to Vietnam and Singapore. Kim also crossed the inter-Korean border twice (he is the only North Korean leader to cross the southern border of the DMZ), once. to meet with then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in and there in 2019 for talks with him. -President Donald Trump.
Putin celebrates ‘friendship’ with Pyongyang as North Korea deepens ties with Russia and China (Forbes)
Kim Jong Un has many appointments to meet with Vladimir Putin (WSJ)
Is North Korean leader Kim Jong Un still traveling by train?(Reuters)