According to Pyongyang’s official KCNA news agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted Kim Jong Un’s invitation to visit the country.
According to KCNA, which used the DPRK’s official name, at the conclusion of their meeting on Wednesday in Russia, “Kim Jong Un courteously invited Putin to visit the DPRK at a convenient time.”
“Putin accepted the invitation with pleasure and reaffirmed his will to invariably carry forward the history and tradition of the Russia-DPRK friendship.”
Kim told Putin on Wednesday he was sure Russia would win a “great victory” over its enemies, as Ukraine’s Western allies warned of a possible Russian arms agreement with North Korea.
Following the start of full-scale hostilities in Ukraine last year, Russia was shunned by the West and has since sought to reinforce its connections with other leaders shunned by democratic nations.
While welcoming Kim at a spaceport in the Far East, Putin welcomed the “strengthening of cooperation and friendship between our countries” and told reporters he saw “possibilities” for military collaboration with North Korea.
He previously stated that Moscow may assist Pyongyang in developing satellites.
Any assistance, according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller in Washington, “would potentially be in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions” and be “quite troubling.”
Russia is reportedly interested in purchasing North Korean munitions to use in Ukraine, according to US officials and experts.
The latest in a series of sanctions-busting tests, Pyongyang launched two ballistic missiles on Wednesday while Kim was in Russia, according to the South Korean military.
