IRIA News

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Pyongyang to meet with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un on a rare and high-profile visit. This marks Putin’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years, aimed at deepening security and trade ties in a renewed diplomatic and strategic engagement between the two countries.

The Russian president arrived in Pyongyang at around 3 a.m. local time. Kim Jong Un personally greeted and hugged Putin at the airport after he touched down at Sunan International Airport on June 18, 2024.

The leaders then rode in the same limousine. Putin’s portrait and posters were seen along the way, as the two leaders headed to the city with dozens of cars and bikes in the entourage and security guards lined up the route., according to videos shared on social media.

Putin is accompanied by several high-ranking officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as stated by his foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov.

Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un greeted each other with a hug when they met at the airport.

Video: TASS/Ruptly pic.twitter.com/MxbyTtcYbT

— TASS (@tassagency_en) June 18, 2024

In the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, a grand red carpet reception has been prepared to welcome the Russian President. The streets are decorated with Putin’s portraits and Russian flags. A banner hung on a building said, “We warmly welcome the President of the Russian Federation.”

The visit comes at a time when Russia and North Korea seek to bolster their international standings amid increasing Western pressure. During their meeting, Putin and Kim discussed various issues, including economic cooperation, military ties, and regional security.

“Russia has incessantly supported and will support the DPRK and the heroic Korean people in their struggle against the treacherous, dangerous, and aggressive enemy, in their fight for independence, identity, and the right to freely choose their development path,” Putin stressed.

Moscow will continue to support Pyongyang in its fight for independence, Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote in an article for the Rodong Sinmun newspaper on the eve of his state visit to North Korea. He noted that Washington keeps setting unacceptable requirements, while North Korea has repeatedly expressed its intention to resolve all the existing differences peacefully.

Before he visited North Korea, Putin traveled to Yakutsk, a city in eastern Russia, where he met with regional Governor Aisen Nikolayev and received briefings on technology and defense-related projects. He also engaged with young professionals working in Russia’s Far East.

Russia and North Korea sign strategic partnership agreement

Putin and Kim signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty in Pyongyang on Wednesday. The treaty included both countries pledging to assist each other if attacked. The agreement “includes the provision of mutual assistance in case of an aggression against one of the signatories.” The full scope of the treaty was not publicized. However, Kim said the agreement was their “strongest ever treaty,” putting the relationship at the level of an alliance.

Both sides asserted that the new pact was “defensive” in nature and aimed at deepening Russian-Korean relations in the long term. Putin called the new treaty “a truly groundbreaking document that reflects the desire of the two countries not to rest on their laurels, but to bring our relations to a new qualitative level.”

Economic cooperation

Economic cooperation remains a critical aspect of Putin’s visit. Russia has been exploring ways to bypass international sanctions imposed on North Korea due to its nuclear program. Trade between the two countries has seen a significant uptick, with Russia providing essential goods and services to North Korea.

Putin also mentioned that Russia and North Korea will develop trade and payment systems “that are not controlled by the West” and will jointly oppose sanctions against their countries, describing these measures as “illegal, unilateral restrictions.”

North Korea faces heavy economic sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council due to its nuclear weapons and missile programs, while Russia contends with sanctions from the United States and its Western allies over its actions in Ukraine. Putin emphasized that the countries will expand cooperation in tourism, culture, and education.

US and South Korea react

U.S. and South Korean officials report that military, economic, and other exchanges between North Korea and Russia have surged since Kim Jong-un met with Putin in September in the Russian Far East, their first meeting since 2019.

Washington and Seoul have alleged that North Korea has been supplying Russia with artillery, missiles, and other military equipment for use in Ukraine, potentially in exchange for critical military technologies and aid. Both Pyongyang and Moscow deny these allegations regarding North Korean weapons transfers, which would contravene multiple U.N. Security Council sanctions that Russia has previously supported.

Visit to Vietnam

Putin is also expected to visit Hanoi this week after he visits North Korea, according to Vietnamese and Russian state media reports. His visit would strengthen the Communist-ruled Vietnam’s close ties with Russia and prompting a rebuke from the United States. This visit follows Hanoi’s decision to skip a Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland last weekend, while it did send its deputy foreign minister to a BRICS meeting in Russia earlier in the week.

Putin, who was sworn in for his fifth term just over a month ago, is expected to meet with Vietnam’s new president, To Lam, and other leaders during the two-day visit to Hanoi, according to officials.

The United States, which upgraded its relations with Hanoi last year and is Vietnam’s top trading partner, reacted harshly. “No country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalize his atrocities,” a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Hanoi told Reuters when asked about the impact of the visit on ties with the United States. “If he is able to travel freely, it could normalize Russia’s blatant violations of international law,” the spokesperson added, referring to the invasion of Ukraine that Putin launched in February 2022.