Putin met North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui in Moscow and thanked Pyongyang for backing Russia’s war in Ukraine. The talks have intensified scrutiny over a possible Kim Jong Un visit and the widening Russia-North Korea axis.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui and thanked Pyongyang for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to Russian state media. The meeting marked the latest high-level contact between Moscow and Pyongyang amid their deepening ties.
Choe’s visit to Russia has not been linked to any obvious occasion such as a multilateral event or a state anniversary, prompting speculation that it could involve preparations for a possible visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. North Korean state media said Choe left for Russia on Saturday at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, but did not say what the visit was about.
South Korea said it was closely watching the meetings. Yoon Min Ho, spokesperson for Seoul’s Unification Ministry, which handles North Korea-related affairs, said on Monday that the government was monitoring developments but declined to say whether Moscow and Pyongyang were discussing another summit between Putin and Kim.
Russia’s Tass news agency reported that Putin, during his meeting with Choe at the Kremlin on Sunday, praised bilateral ties and repeated his “gratitude to the North Korean leadership and people” for supporting his military operations against Ukraine. Tass said Choe told Putin that Kim remained committed to the “comprehensive development” of relations with Russia.
Kim travelled to Russia’s Far East for summits with Putin in 2019 and 2023. During Putin’s visit to Pyongyang in June 2024, the Russian leader invited Kim to visit Russia again. At that summit, the two leaders signed a strategic partnership agreement under which they pledged mutual aid if either country faces aggression.
In recent years, Kim has made Russia a priority in his foreign policy, sending thousands of troops and large supplies of weapons to support Putin’s war in Ukraine, possibly in return for economic aid and technology transfers that some experts say are helping North Korea improve its military capabilities. Kim has also sought closer ties with China, including by hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping for a June summit in Pyongyang, as he pushes the idea of a “new Cold War” and presents Pyongyang as part of a united front against Washington.
Choe’s visit to Moscow came soon after North Korea and China exchanged high-level visits. North Korean Cabinet Premier Pak Thae Song, Kim’s top economic official, met Xi in Beijing, while Wang Huning, a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, visited Kim in Pyongyang this month. Kim has also halted all meaningful dialogue with the United States and South Korea since his nuclear diplomacy with then US President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019, while continuing to press Washington to drop demands that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons before talks can resume.
The meeting between Putin and Choe underlined the growing engagement between Russia and North Korea, with South Korea watching closely as questions remain over whether Kim could make another visit to Russia.
With PTI Inputs
