Receive free Ukraine War updates
we will send you myFT Daily Digest Email summary of latest information war in ukraine There is news every morning.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia by private train on Tuesday for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin that could lead to an arms deal to back Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The visit is Kim Jong-un’s first overseas trip since the Covid-19 pandemic. The United States expects the two leaders to discuss the sale of North Korean weapons to Moscow as Russian forces try to contain a counteroffensive in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Putin and Kim would meet “in the coming days” and that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu would also attend, but gave no details on the time or location.
Kim Jong Un left Pyongyang on Sunday after participating in a military parade celebrating the founding of his communist state and chairing a diplomatic meeting in which he vowed to strengthen ties with China and Russia. He was accompanied by senior party officials, diplomats and military commanders.
Russian state television station Rossiya-24 showed footage of a Russian railway locomotive pulling Kim Jong Un’s green train carriage over a bridge spanning a river on the North Korean border. Rossiya-24 said the train crossed the border in “absolute secrecy” on Tuesday morning.
Peskov said Putin and Kim would meet after the Russian president attended the Eastern Economic Forum in the eastern city of Vladivostok, and the meeting would include a lunch for Kim.
Rossiya-24 said the meeting could take place on Wednesday at the Vostok Cosmodrome in Russia’s far east.
Asked about his plans to visit Vostochny on Tuesday at a panel at the European Economic Forum, Putin said: “I have a plan there. You will know when I arrive.”
The space launch facility is about 900 kilometers northwest of Ussuriysk, where Kim Jong Un’s special train was seen on Tuesday. Ussuriysk is about 60 kilometers north of Vladivostok, but the railway route is circuitous. , it’s unclear how long it will take for Kim Jong-un’s special train to get there.
South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the luxurious green and yellow train that Kim Jong-un was traveling on had at least 20 bulletproof carriages, and its heavy weight meant that it only traveled at a speed of about 59 kilometers per hour.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the train is equipped with communication equipment and is designed to serve as Kim Jong-un’s “mobile office.” It also has a compartment that can accommodate Kim Jong Un’s bulletproof Mercedes-Benz limousine, South Korean broadcaster YTN said.
Kim’s visit to Russia comes more than four years after his first summit with Putin in Vladivostok.
Military ties between Russia and North Korea are deepening as the two countries become increasingly isolated and subject to international sanctions.
U.S. officials and analysts expect Putin to seek conventional weapons, including ammunition, from Pyongyang as Russian forces rapidly deplete supplies due to heavy use of artillery in Ukraine. Kim Jong Un may demand food aid and advanced weapons technology to build spy satellites and nuclear-powered submarines.
“Russia will not accept all North Korea’s demands, especially technical help with advanced weapons in exchange for Pyongyang’s limited military supplies,” said Kim Jae-chun, a professor at Sogang University in Seoul. “But it must agree to some demands, because for Russia, in Victory in the war in Ukraine is important.”
Svlook
