SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — President Vladimir Putin arrived in North Korea early Wednesday, Russian information companies reported, after he mentioned the 2 international locations wish to cooperate intently to beat U.S.-led sanctions within the face of intensifying confrontations with Washington.
Putin was met at Pyongyang’s airport by North Korean chief Kim Jong Un, in response to the information companies.
Putin, making his first journey to North Korea in 24 years, mentioned in feedback that appeared in its state media hours earlier than he landed that he appreciates the nation’s agency assist of his navy actions in Ukraine. The Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of the neighboring nation in 2022.
He mentioned the international locations would proceed to “resolutely oppose” what he described as Western ambitions “to hinder the establishment of a multipolar world order based on justice, mutual respect for sovereignty, considering each other’s interests.”
Putin’s go to comes amid rising issues about an arms association during which Pyongyang supplies Moscow with badly wanted munitions to gasoline Russia’s warfare in Ukraine in trade for financial help and know-how transfers that may improve the risk posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.
Within the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, the streets have been adorned with portraits of Putin and Russian flags. A banner on a constructing mentioned: “We warmly welcome the President of the Russian Federation.”
Putin additionally mentioned in his revealed remarks that Russia and North Korea will develop commerce and fee programs “that are not controlled by the West” and collectively oppose sanctions in opposition to the international locations, which he described as “illegal, unilateral restrictions.”
North Korea is below heavy U.N. Safety Council financial sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile applications, whereas Russia can also be grappling with sanctions by the US and its Western companions over its aggression in Ukraine.
Putin mentioned the international locations may even develop cooperation in tourism, tradition and schooling.
Earlier than heading to North Korea, Putin traveled to Yakutsk, a metropolis in jap Russia, the place he met regional Gov. Aisen Nikolayev, and obtained briefings on know-how and defense-related tasks. He additionally met with younger professionals working in Russia’s Far East.
Putin is being accompanied by a number of high officers, together with Deputy Prime Minister Denis Mantrurov, Protection Minister Andrei Belousov and International Minister Sergey Lavrov, in response to his international coverage adviser, Yuri Ushakov. He mentioned various paperwork might be signed throughout the go to, presumably together with an settlement on a complete strategic partnership.
U.S. and South Korean officers say navy, financial and different exchanges between North Korea and Russia have sharply elevated since Kim met Putin in September within the Russian Far East, their first since 2019.
U.S. and South Korean officers accuse the North of offering Russia with artillery, missiles and different navy tools to be used in Ukraine, presumably in return for key navy applied sciences and support. Each Pyongyang and Moscow deny accusations about North Korean weapons transfers, which might violate a number of U.N. Safety Council sanctions that Russia beforehand endorsed.
Together with China, Russia has supplied political cowl for Kim’s persevering with efforts to advance his nuclear arsenal, repeatedly blocking U.S.-led efforts to impose recent U.N. sanctions on the North over its weapons checks.
In March, a Russian veto on the United Nations ended monitoring of U.N. sanctions in opposition to North Korea over its nuclear program, prompting Western accusations that Moscow is in search of to keep away from scrutiny because it buys weapons from Pyongyang to be used in Ukraine. U.S. and South Korean officers have mentioned they’re discussing choices for a brand new mechanism for monitoring the North.
Earlier this yr, Putin despatched Kim a high-end Aurus Senat limousine, which he had proven to the North Korean chief after they met in September. Observers mentioned the cargo violated a U.N. decision banning the provision of luxurious objects to North Korea.
John Kirby, spokesperson of the U.S. Nationwide Safety Council, mentioned the deepening relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang is regarding, “not just because of the impacts it’s going to have on the Ukrainian people, because we know North Korean ballistic missiles are still being used to hit Ukrainian targets, but because there could be some reciprocity here that could affect security on the Korean Peninsula.”
“We haven’t seen the parameters of all of that right now, certainly haven’t seen it come to fruition. But we’re certainly going to be watching that very, very closely,” he mentioned.
Lim Soosuk, spokesperson of South Korea’s International Ministry, mentioned Seoul has been stressing to Moscow that any cooperation between Russia and North Korea should not “proceed in a direction that violates U.N. Security Council resolutions or undermines peace and stability in the region.”
Tensions on the Korean Peninsulas are at their highest level in years, with the tempo of each Kim’s weapons checks and mixed navy workout routines involving the US, South Korea and Japan intensifying in a tit-for-tat cycle. The Koreas even have engaged in Chilly Conflict-style psychological warfare that concerned North Korea dropping tons of trash on the South with balloons, and the South broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda with its loudspeakers.
South Korea’s navy mentioned troopers fired warning photographs to repel North Korean troopers who briefly crossed the land border Tuesday, apparently in error, for the second time this month.
Putin has repeatedly sought to rebuild ties with Pyongyang as a part of efforts to revive his nation’s clout and its Soviet-era alliances. Moscow’s ties with North Korea weakened after the 1991 Soviet collapse. Kim Jong Un first met with Putin in 2019 in Russia’s jap port of Vladivostok.
After North Korea, the Kremlin mentioned Putin may even go to Vietnam for talks which can be anticipated to be targeted on commerce. The US, which has spent years strengthening ties and accelerating commerce with Vietnam, criticized Putin’s deliberate go to.
“As Russia continues to seek international support to sustain its illegal and brutal war against Ukraine, we reiterate that no country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalize his atrocities,” a U.S. Embassy spokesperson in Vietnam mentioned in an announcement.
