North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday called strengthening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang a “top priority” during a meeting with Vladimir Putin at a cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.
After visiting installations at the Vostochny cosmodrome, including a workshop for assembling new generation Russian Angara rockets, the two leaders held discussions which ended after more than two hours.
However, nothing at this stage has been communicated concerning a possible agreement for deliveries of military equipment to Russia in order to support its invasion of Ukraine, as Washington had mentioned on the eve of this exceptional summit.
“I am very happy to see you,” Mr. Putin said, sitting alongside his host before the start of the talks, according to footage broadcast on Russian television.
For his part, Kim said North Korea will make ties with Moscow the “top priority” of its diplomacy. “I take this opportunity to affirm that we will always be with Russia,” he insisted, specifying that this meeting was “a springboard” for closer relations.
“Russia is currently facing […] to such hegemonist forces to protect its security interests. We have always expressed our full and unconditional support for all measures taken by the Russian government,” he added.
With the talks, Mr Putin said they would address “many issues”, including “the situation in the region” and “economic cooperation”.
According to the Kremlin, talks in the presence of the delegations first took place, followed by a one-on-one exchange between the two heads of state. A lunch in honor of Kim is underway, according to the official TASS agency.
This is the first meeting of the two leaders since a previous trip by Kim Jong-un to Vladivostok in 2019.
Fears of Washington
On the eve of the summit between the two leaders, very isolated on the international scene, Washington had raised the possibility that North Korea would deliver weapons to Moscow to support its offensive against Kiev.
According to the Kremlin, the Russian Ministers of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, and of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, participated in the bilateral discussions, as well as that of Industry Denis Manturov.
Ahead of the meeting, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov indicated that the two men would talk about “sensitive subjects” without paying attention to American “warnings”.
Washington fears that Russia will obtain weapons for its military operations in Ukraine from North Korea, itself under sanctions because of its nuclear program and its missiles under development.
A spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy, for her part, affirmed on Wednesday that this summit only concerned “relations between these two countries”, while Beijing remains the main political and economic support of Pyongyang.
Departing the North Korean capital on Sunday evening aboard an armored train, Kim Jong-un shook hands with Vladimir Putin, shortly after their arrival early Wednesday afternoon at the cosmodrome.
Surrounded by senior military officials, suggesting the direction of his trip, the North Korean leader is making his first trip abroad since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Mr. Kim is in Russia, North Korea fired “an unidentified ballistic missile toward the East Sea” on Wednesday, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, using the Korean name. from the Sea of Japan. Tokyo has discussed the launch of two ballistic missiles.
Help for satellite construction
The choice of the cosmodrome to hold this meeting is symbolic. On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin raised the possibility of Russia helping North Korea build satellites, after Pyongyang twice recently failed to put a military spy satellite into orbit.
“That’s why we came here. North Korea’s leader shows great interest in rocket technology. They are trying to develop their space program,” Putin said, according to Russian news agencies.
An Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who heads the Global Institute for North Korea Studies, said before the meeting that the cosmodrome “seems to be the optimal location because it meets mutual interests, such as the provision of satellite technology requested by North Korea.
Russia is interested in North Korea’s stockpile of artillery shells, likely used in Ukraine, while Pyongyang is seeking help in modernizing its Soviet-era equipment, particularly for its army. air and its navy, he added.
“If North Korea’s multiple rocket launchers and other artillery shells are supplied to Russia in large quantities, it could have a significant impact on the war in Ukraine,” he added.
Last week, the White House warned that North Korea would “pay the price” if it supplied Russia with weapons for the conflict in Ukraine.