Putin and Kim Jong Un have ‘exchanged letters’ and pledged to increase their co-operation amid fears North Korea is providing arms for the war in Ukraine
- US national security spokesperson John Kirby warned of tightening ties
- Comes after Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu visited North Korea in July
Putin and Kim Jong Un have reportedly ‘exchanged letters’ and pledged to increase co-operation between their countries amid fears North Korea is providing arms for the war in Ukraine.
The United States is concerned that arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea are actively advancing, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told a briefing on Wednesday.
Kirby said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had recently traveled to North Korea to try to convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Russia.
He also claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had exchanged letters pledging to increase their bilateral cooperation and said the United States had intelligence that indicated another group of Russian officials had traveled to Pyongyang after the defence minister’s visit.
Under the deals, Russia would receive arms that the military plans to use in the war with Ukraine, Kirby said.
Putin and Kim Jong Un (pictured on August 29) have reportedly ‘exchanged letters’ and pledged to increase co-operation between their countries
It comes amid fears North Korea could provide arms for Putin’s war in Ukraine. The Russian president is pictured on August 30
The deals could also include raw materials that would help Russia’s defense industrial base.
Kirby said any arms deals between Russia and North Korea would violate United Nations Security Council resolutions.
READ MORE: North Korea rolls out the red carpet for nuclear ally Russia as Putin’s war chief visits Pyongyang
‘We urge the DPRK to cease its arms negotiations with Russia and abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia,’ Kirby told reporters, referring to North Korea.
Kirby declined to detail how US officials had gathered the intelligence.
Shortly before the White House unveiled the new information about North Korea and Russia’s weapon talks, North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters, according to South Korea’s military.
The missile test came just hours after the US flew at least one long-range bomber to the Korean Peninsula in a show of force against the North.
The Biden administration has repeatedly made the case that the Kremlin has become reliant on North Korea, as well as Iran, for the arms it needs to fight its war against Ukraine.
North Korea and Iran are largely isolated on the international stage for their nuclear programs and human rights records.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby (pictured) told a briefing on Wednesday that the US is concerned arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea are advancing
Photographs in state media showed Kim walking Moscow’s Sergei Shoigu through a vast defence exhibition and shaking hands upon meeting (pictured)
In March, the White House said it had gathered intelligence that showed that Russia was looking to broker a food-for-arms deal with North Korea, in which Moscow would provide the North with needed food and other commodities in return for munitions from Pyongyang.
Late last year, the White House said it had determined that the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company, had taken delivery of an arms shipment from North Korea to help bolster its forces fighting in Ukraine on behalf of Russia.
Both North Korea and Russia have previously denied the U.S. allegations about weapons. North Korea, however, has sided with Russia over the war in Ukraine, insisting that the ‘hegemonic policy’ of the US-led West has forced Moscow to take military action to protect its security interests.
President Donald Trump traded letters with Kim during his administration in an unsuccessful bid to encourage the North Korean leader to abandon his nuclear weapons program.
In July Putin’s right-hand man Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang amid suspicions of closer ties between the two countries.
During the three-day visit he called on North Korean officials to increase the sale of munitions to Moscow for its Ukraine war.
Kim Jong Un gave Shoigu a tour of North Korea’s arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles and other advanced weapons.
This picture taken on July 25, 2023 and released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency shows Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (centre) arriving at Pyongyang International Airport
Shoigu, right, is welcomed by North Korean Defence Minister Kang Sun Nam in Pyongyang
The Kremlin’s war supremo then handed over a ‘warm and beautiful personal letter’ from Vladimir Putin to the North Korean dictator.
Shoigu and a high-ranking Chinese delegation were Kim’s first known foreign guests since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kim personally escorted Shoigu through the ‘Weapons and Equipment Exhibition 2023’, the official Korean Central News Agency said.
Photos appeared to feature North Korea’s largest intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Hwasong-17, and the Hwasong-18 solid-fuel ICBM.
Russia, a historic ally of North Korea, is one of a handful of nations with which Pyongyang maintains friendly relations.
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