A Russian Foreign Ministry delegation travelled to North Korea to resume talks on strengthening military ties six days after the US has accused North Korea of violating an international treaty by providing Russia with ammunition for its war with Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov flew to Pyongyang on Wednesday for a two-day trip to join his North Korean counterparts to reinforce security co-operation. He also arranged a return visit by President Vladimir Putin after the trip of North Korean leader Kim Jong PyongyangUn to Russia last month.
After the historic summit between President Putin and Chairman of State Affairs Kim Jong Un at the Vostochny Cosmodrome on September 13, we can confidently say that the relations have reached a qualitatively new strategic level.
North Korea’s Foreign Minister Choe Sun Hui claimed building an “unbreakable comradely relationship” under the “strategic” decisions and leadership of Kim and Putin, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
Lavrov thanked North Korea for its staunch support of Russia’s war with Ukraine on the first day of the conference:
We are fully aware that many countries worldwide share similar viewpoints and assessments, but only a select few, such as [North Korea], explicitly declare their solidarity with Russia and can express it openly.
The Russian foreign minister stated that he came to Pyongyang to discuss the implementation of unspecified agreements between Putin and Kim reached at the September summit.
During the visit to Russia, Kim Jong Un met with the Russian President, toured the Vostochny Cosmodrome, and examined other key Russian weapons facilities.
The North Korean leader’s visit sparked rumours that DPRK would replenish depleting Russian arms stockpiles in exchange for sophisticated Russian technology capable of upgrading North Korea’s nuclear arsenal and ballistic capabilities.
Washington alleged on Friday that North Korea had shipped more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and ammunition to Russia.
The White House published images purportedly showing the containers loaded onto a Russian-flagged ship before being sent by train to southwestern Russia.
According to US intelligence, the containers were dispatched between September 7 and October 1 from Najin, North Korea, to Dunay, Russia.
