North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin (Vladivostok, Russia, 2019,). Photo
Vladimir Putin will meet Kim Jong Un during a state visit on Tuesday, June 18th and Wednesday, June 19th, as Al Jazeera reports on June 17th.
Russian President is set to arrive in North Korea later on Tuesday, June 18th, marking his first visit in 24 years and highlighting the strengthening relationship between the two nuclear – armed nations.
North Korean leader extended the invitation to Putin during Kim’s visit to eastern Russia in September, which was the first meeting between the two leaders since 2019.
At the invitation of the Chairman of State Affairs of the DPRK, Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin will pay a friendly state visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on June 18-19,
– the Kremlin stated on Monday, June 17th.
North Korea’s state news agency, KCNA, also confirmed the visit but did not provide additional details.
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Putin’s last visit to Pyongyang was in July 2000, four months after his initial election as president, where he met with the then-leader, Kim Jong Il, the father of Kim Jong Un.
In a letter published in Tuesday’s edition of the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, Putin stated that over the past 70 years, the two countries have developed strong relations and partnerships founded on equality, mutual respect, and trust.
We will develop alternative mechanisms of trade and mutual settlements that are not controlled by the West, and jointly resist illegitimate unilateral restrictions.
And at the same time – we will build an architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia.
He expressed gratitude to North Korea for its support of Russia’s war in Ukraine and pledged to assist Pyongyang in defending its interests against what he termed “US pressure, blackmail, and military threats.”
Al Jazeera, Kremlin, KCNA and agencies