REUTERS/Alexander Zemlianichenko Photo of Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin taken April 25, 2019 in Vladivostok.
REUTERS/Alexander Zemlianichenko
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un intends to visit Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin, the White House said Monday (September 4th).
INTERNATIONAL – Worrying cooperation. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un intends to visit Russia to discuss with President Vladimir Putin arms sales from Pyongyang to Moscow for its war in Ukraine, the White House said on Monday (September 4th).
“As we have already said, negotiations on the supply of arms 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 a diplomatic exchange at the highest level in Russia”she added in an email to the press.
According to information from New York TimesKim Jong-un is expected to travel to Vladivostok, on Russia’s east coast, on an armored train later this month to meet with the Kremlin chief there.
armaments “against Ukraine”
On Wednesday, the chief spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby, was already alarmed by the rapid progress of these negotiations on future arms deliveries from Pyongyang to Moscow and had summoned the communist regime to ” cease “ ces discussions.
John Kirby revealed that “these potential deals would see Russia receive significant quantities” of armaments, in particular ammunition for artillery, as well as raw materials for its defense industry. These weapons would be “used against Ukraine”added the American ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
An official at the South Korean Unification Ministry also told AFP that several elements “indicated” that discussions between Pyongyang and Moscow on future arms deliveries were progressing. “Any form of cooperation between North Korea and its neighboring countries must be conducted in a way that does not undermine international norms and peace.”he added.
Artillery shells and anti-tank missiles
The North Korean leader’s trips abroad are rare. Besides his trips to Singapore and Vietnam in 2018 and 2019 for summits with then-US President Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un made four visits to China. He also already met Putin in Vladivostok in 2019.
The New York Times clarifies that Putin wants to obtain artillery shells and anti-tank missiles from North Korea. Kim Jong-un is said to seek to acquire advanced technologies for satellites and submarines, as well as food aid.
Washington said last week that North Korea had supplied infantry rockets and missiles to Russia in 2022 for use by the private paramilitary group Wagner.
The White House again denounced on Monday the visit at the end of July of the Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu to North Korea, where he attended a military parade alongside Kim Jong Un, in order to “trying to convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Russia”.
Three Sanctioned Entities
Last week, the United States, Britain, South Korea and Japan said any deal to increase cooperation between Russia and North Korea would violate United Nations Security Council resolutions banning arms sales to Pyongyang, resolutions that Moscow itself approved.
They said that following Shoigu’s visit to Pyongyang, another group of Russian officials visited North Korea for follow-up talks.
According to Cho Han-bum, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, international sanctions will not prevent any exchange of arms between Pyongyang and Moscow. Russia and North Korea don’t care ” not “ sanctions because the two countries are already subject to them, he believes, adding that military cooperation between the two countries seems “inevitable”.
Last month, Washington sanctioned three entities accused of seeking to facilitate arms sales between North Korea and Russia. They were linked to a Slovak national already sanctioned by the US Treasury in March for allowing arms sales between Pyongyang and Moscow, according to the Treasury Department.
According to the same source, Russia continues to run out of ammunition and lose heavy equipment in Ukraine, forcing it to turn to its core group of allies for help.
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2023-09-05 05:25:13
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