Kim Jong-un has already left for Russia on an armored train for negotiations with Putin

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un traveled to Russia on his armored train for talks with President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, reports with the BBC.

Photo: IStock

These negotiations, according to US authorities, will concern the supply of weapons for the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin confirmed the visit.

The armored train that the North Korean leader uses for foreign visits appears to have already set off for Russia, South Korean media reported, citing a government official.

The meeting is expected to take place on Tuesday, September 12. This date is announced by the South Korean TV channel YTN. According to the interlocutor of the channel, now the North Korean leader is moving to the border by train.

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RBC's source in the Russian delegation named a different date - September 13 (previously it was also called by the South Korean media). He added that the meeting will not be within the framework of the Eastern Economic Forum, in which Putin will take part. The Russian president has already arrived in Vladivostok.

The Russian agency Interfax reported that Kim Jong-un was expected in the Far East on the morning of September 11. The North Korean leader "may visit the region in the near future," one of the agency's interlocutors said. “We have been preparing for Kim Jong Un’s visit for a long time,” another source said.

Later, Kim Jong-un's visit was officially confirmed by the Kremlin. He will visit Russia “in the coming days,” the report said.

Earlier, his visit was announced by Western publications. The New York Times reported that Kim Jong-un will come to Vladivostok for talks with Putin to discuss the supply of artillery shells and anti-tank missiles from the DPRK.

“As we have already warned, negotiations on arms supplies between Russia and the DPRK are actively moving forward,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson. “We have information that Kim Jong Un expects these discussions to continue, including diplomatic interaction at the leader level in Russia.”

The Financial Times, citing its sources, also wrote that North Korea is ready to sign an arms supply agreement with Russia. According to him, Pyongyang can offer Moscow ammunition, multiple launch rocket systems and short-range ballistic missiles.

“All this will help Moscow repel Kyiv’s counter-offensive,” the publication noted. In response, Russia can offer North Korea grain, oil, military technology and money in foreign currency, as follows from the publication.

North Korean weapons could help Russia in the fighting in Ukraine, but they are probably not advanced enough to change the course of the war, Bloomberg wrote on Monday.

North Korea has significant stockpiles of artillery shells and unguided missiles that could be used with Soviet-era military equipment to launch indiscriminate attacks on Ukraine, the agency noted.

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Pyongyang denies US accusations of providing military assistance to Russia. The Russian authorities adhere to the same version.

War prolongation strategy

The first reports that Russia purchased artillery shells and missiles from the DPRK appeared a year ago.

“North Korean ammunition supplies are unlikely to be critical in the short term, but will make it easier for Russia to continue a war of attrition,” said Terence Roehrig, a professor of national security affairs at the US Naval War College.

According to Roehrig, an important part of Putin's strategy was an attempt to buy time in a protracted conflict in the hope that Western support would dry up: "increasing the number of ammunition will allow Putin to pursue this strategy."

Ammunition from North Korea will help buy time for Russia, giving its own industry a chance to catch up with demand, says Bloomberg.

At the end of July, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang. Then he announced the strengthening of military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, calling North Korea an important partner of Russia.

In July, the North Korean leader showed Shoigu the latest weapons produced in the DPRK. Among the weapons on display was the Hwaseong intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Successfully tested in April, it is believed to be the first North Korean ICBM to use solid fuel. Two new drone designs were also on display, including one reminiscent of the main offensive strike drone used by the US Air Force.

If Kim Jong Un's summit with Putin goes ahead, it will be the North Korean leader's first international trip in more than four years and his first since the coronavirus pandemic. The leaders of the two countries are likely to discuss the possibility of providing Moscow with weapons to support its war in Ukraine, the American television company CBS previously reported

The North Korean leader's last visit to Russia was in 2019 in Vladivostok, where he held his first summit with Putin after North Korea's nuclear disarmament talks with US President Donald Trump failed. Then Kim Jong-un also reached Vladivostok by armored train.

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Japanese media reported that at the railway station in the city of Khasan, where the armored train is supposed to cross the Russian border, security measures are being strengthened and repairs are being carried out, as Reuters writes.

North Korea is one of the few countries that openly supported Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. Putin last week promised to expand bilateral ties with Pyongyang.

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