Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation from Kim Jong-un to visit North Korea.
Seoul:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation to visit North Korea from its leader Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang’s state news agency KCNA announced on Thursday.
At the end of a meeting between the two in Russia on Wednesday, Kim Jong Un “courteously invited Putin to visit the DPRK at a convenient time,” according to KCNA, which called the country by its official name.
“Putin happily accepted the invitation and reaffirmed his will to steadfastly continue the history and tradition of friendship between Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”
Kim told Putin on Wednesday he was confident Russia would achieve a “great victory” over its enemies, after Ukraine’s Western allies warned of a possible Russian arms treaty with North Korea.
Russia became a pariah in the West after launching large-scale hostilities in Ukraine last year and has sought to strengthen alliances with other leaders excluded by democratic countries.
Putin praised the “strengthening of cooperation and friendship between our countries” as he hosted Kim at a spaceport in the Far East, telling reporters he saw “opportunities” for military cooperation with North Korea.
He had previously said that Moscow could help Pyongyang build satellites.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller had described any cooperation as “quite troubling and potentially in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
US officials and experts have said Russia is interested in buying North Korean ammunition for use in Ukraine.
While Kim was in Russia, Pyongyang fired two ballistic missiles on Wednesday, the South Korean military said, the latest in a series of sanctions-busting tests.
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