North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to head to Russia and meet with President Vladimir Putin to discuss, in part, selling weapons to aid the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, according to top US officials.
The exact timeframe for the planned sit-down was not disclosed Monday by National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson, but Kim would likely travel to Russia via armored train.
“We have information that Kim Jong Un expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia,” Watson said in a statement.
“We urge the DPRK to cease its arms negotiations with Russia and abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia.”
Privately, officials believe the meeting could happen as soon as next week, according to the New York Times.
Kim rarely departs the Hermit Kingdom — at least as far as the outside world knows — but in the past, he has done so via armored train.
In this case, he will likely head from Pyongyang, North Korea, to Vladivostok, Russia, the New York Times reported, citing officials that noted he could also go to Moscow.
Should Kim agree to trade weaponry, Putin could send him technology for nuclear powered submarines and satellites, officials told the outlet.
Kim would also likely seek food supplies for his hunger-plagued nation.
Russia has been actively courting its allies as it stares down the barrel of intense sanctions from the West and an unrelenting war with its neighbor, Ukraine.
North Korea is quite familiar with western sanctions.
Last month, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu went to North Korea prodding Pyongyang to sell ammunition to Moscow.
“Russia has been forced to turn to rogue regimes to try to obtain weapons and equipment to support its military operations. That is in part because of the sweeping sanctions and export controls that we have imposed,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said at a press conference last week.
“One of those regimes is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”
Another is China, Russia’s neighbor who has helped the Kremlin muddle through the international fallout from the bloody conflict.
Recently, a South Korean lawmaker revealed that intelligence indicated Russia likely floated having coordinated naval drills alongside China and North Korea.
The South Korean lawmaker, Yoo Sang-bum, had been briefed by the country’s spy agency Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Russia’s Ambassador to North Korea, Alexander Matsegora recently mused that such joint exercises “seems appropriate,” per the report.
Next week, President Biden is set to attend the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi, India from Sept. 7 to Sept. 10.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to skip the diplomatic event amid friction with India and instead send Premier Li Qiang.
