THE Russian chairman Vladimir Putin he accepted a challenge addressed to him to visit the North Korea its leader, Kim Jong Unduring his rare trip to Russia aimed at strengthening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, especially at the military level.
For the time being, no deal has been officially announced to supply military equipment to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine, a possibility that the US government again expressed concern about yesterday (13/9).
At the end of their talks yesterday Wednesday, Mr Kim ‘kindly invited’ Mr Putin to visit North Korea ‘in due course’, the official North Korean news agency KCNA reported. The Russian president “gladly accepted the invitation” and reaffirmed his firm commitment to continuing and strengthening the “historical and traditional friendship” of the two states, according to the same source.
Mr Kim said earlier yesterday that Moscow would win a “great victory” over its enemies, while Mr Putin toasted the two states’ “future strengthening of cooperation”.speaking of the “prospects” of military cooperation, despite international sanctions against Pyongyang over its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.
Yesterday was the first meeting between the two leaders since Kim Jong Un’s previous trip to Vladivostok in 2019.
After the arrival of the North Korean leader in Russia in his armored train, Messrs. Kim and Putin visited the facilities at the Vastochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East, which was completed in 2016 and will replace the Russian space agency’s historic Baikonur base.
This was followed by official talks, for about two hours, between the government delegations of the two states and the leaders individually. Russian Ministers of Defense Sergei Saigu, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Industry Minister Denis Madurov took part in the proceedings.
According to Mr Putin, Kim Jong Un was to attend a “demonstration” of the Russian Navy in the Pacific Ocean in Vladivostok and was also to visit factories in the aeronautical sector, “civil and military”.
He also mentioned the possibility of Moscow helping Pyongyang build satellites, following two recent failed North Korean attempts to put a military observation satellite into orbit.
The concern of the US
The US reiterated its “concern” yesterday, insisting that Russia wants to secure North Korean munitions to use in the invasion of Ukraine.
“We are obviously concerned about any developing defense relationship between North Korea and Russia.”, said the representative of the National Security Council of the American presidency, John Kirby. While Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, also expressed concern about any cooperation in the field of satellites, which would constitute “a violation of [του Συμβουλίου Ασφαλείας] of the UN”. The US “will not hesitate” to impose sanctions in such a caseMr. Miller warned.
For its part, South Korea also expressed concern over North Korea’s possible closer military cooperation with Russia, through Unification Minister Kim Young-ho, South Korea’s national Yonhap news agency reported.
Source: News Beast
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