Vladimir Putin to Meet Kim Jong-un in Vladivostok, Russia
The New York Times reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un plans a trip to Russia in September, where President Vladimir Putin will meet Kim Jong-un in Vladivostok, Russia, and discuss the possibility of supplying Moscow with weapons for the war in Ukraine.
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| Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held talks in 2019. (Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko | Afp | Getty Images) |
When asked by the press about a possible meeting between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied, "No, we cannot confirm. We have nothing to tell you on this topic."
Kim Jong-un's trip is a rare overseas trip
If true, this would be Kim's rare overseas trip. He will travel from Pyongyang in an armored train, head for Vladivostok, on the Pacific coast from Russia, and meet Putin there.
Reuters news agency contacted Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Kookmin University in Seoul. "Without the war in Ukraine, Russia doesn't care about North Korea. So I think the Ukraine war is really good news for North Korea because that war is pushing Russia closer to North Korea. This creates a situation where North Korea will get something from Russia."
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Another expert, Patricia Lewis, director of the international security program at Chatham House, argued the meeting was due to Russia's difficulties in obtaining weapons from China.
"So, China has so far provided no weapons. There is no direct arms aid for Russia. That's because of China's foreign policy where China has clearly said it wants peace. China has criticized the West for arming Ukraine and therefore, it does not want to directly arm Russia at this time. Of course, this could change if the situation develops."
Lewis added that China has the upper hand in terms of its relations with Russia. If Russia wants Chinese weapons, it will have to sacrifice a lot of strategic things.
"For example, territories, safe harbors in the Arctic, some things like this are going on. Russia risks becoming a country under Chinese control, and I'm sure Putin is very aware of this and very concerned."
Because of these developments, Lewis concluded that Russia was looking to North Korea as a potential ammunition supplier.