A US source stated on Tuesday that arms talks between Russia and North Korea are actively progressing and warned North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that his nation will pay a price for providing Russia with weapons to use in Ukraine.
Russian receiving weapons “is not going to reflect well on North Korea and they will pay a price for this in the international community,” US national security advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House.
The Kremlin declared earlier on Tuesday that it had “nothing to say” in response to US officials’ claims that Kim intended to visit Russia this month to meet with President Vladimir Putin and talk about providing Moscow with weapons.
According to Sullivan, Kim anticipates that negotiations about weapons will continue, possibly even “in person.”
Moscow is now “looking to whatever source they can find” for products like ammunition because “we have continued to squeeze Russia’s defence industrial base,” according to Sullivan.
We will keep pressing North Korea to uphold its public pledges not to give Russia any weapons that could be used to kill Ukrainians, said Sullivan.
According to the New York Times, which quoted anonymous US and allies officials, Kim may be planning to visit Russia as early as next week to meet with Putin, according to US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, declined to confirm the talks when asked if he could. Nothing to say, really.
Political observers claim that as the country has been more isolated due to its involvement in the Ukraine conflict, North Korea has become more valuable to Russia. Although North Korea’s ties to Russia have not always been as cordial as they were during the height of the Soviet Union, the nation is currently benefiting significantly from Moscow’s desire for allies.
Defence cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang
In November, a representative of the North Korean defence ministry stated that the country has “never had ‘arms dealings’ with Russia” and has “no plan to do so in the future.”
Russia and North Korea have pledged to increase their defence cooperation.
Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister of Russia, claimed on Monday that his country and North Korea are talking about conducting joint military drills. Shoigu visited Pyongyang in July to observe a weapons exhibition that featured the country’s illegal ballistic missiles.
According to Keir Giles, Senior Consulting Fellow of Chatham House’s Russia & Eurasia Programme, “you can tell a country by the company it keeps, just as you can tell a person by their friends.” In Russia’s case, the majority of that group are currently rogue nations.
Kim would be travelling for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak and her first international vacation in more than four years.
Even though Kim travelled more than his father did while he was the leader, his travels are sometimes shrouded in secrecy and strict protection. While US officials warned the New York Times that Kim may ride an armoured train across the land border North Korea and Russia share, Kim has flown his own Russian-made jet for several of his visits unlike his father who was believed to dislike flying.
According to Andrei Lankov, a North Korea specialist at Seoul’s Kookmin University, Kim is likely to want to emphasise a sense of Russian backing and may seek agreements on arms sales, aid, and transferring labourers to Russia.
In August, the US imposed sanctions on three organisations it claimed were involved in military transfers between Russia and North Korea.
North Korea has tested numerous missiles recently and has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006.
Russia and China have joined China in opposing further sanctions against North Korea, thwarting an initiative by the US and causing the UN Security Council to officially split for the first time since it began sanctioning Pyongyang in 2006.
(Reuters)
