Putin to visit North Korea for first time in 24 years – BBC News

Ahead of his first visit to Pyongyang in 24 years, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised North Korea for “strongly supporting” Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Putin is expected to arrive in the capital on Tuesday to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The two leaders last met in September at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Far East, but it was Mr Putin's first visit to Pyongyang since 2000.

In a letter published in North Korean state media, Mr Putin pledged to build trade and security arrangements with Pyongyang “that are not controlled by the West”.

In an article published in Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of North Korea's ruling party, President Putin pledged support for Pyongyang's efforts to protect its interests despite “US pressure, blackmail and military threats.”

He said the two countries would continue to “strongly oppose” what he described as Western ambitions to “obstruct the establishment of a multilateral world order based on mutual respect for justice”.

The US said it was concerned about the “deepening relationship between these two countries”.

The Kremlin has described the event as a “friendly state visit”, with Russian media reporting that Mr Putin and Mr Kim may sign a partnership agreement on security issues and will make joint statements to the media.

A parade is expected at Kim Il Sung Square. Mr Putin is expected to watch a concert and visit Pyongyang's Orthodox Church of the Life-Giving Trinity, North Korea's only Orthodox church.

Mr Putin will stay at the Kumsusan Guesthouse in Pyongyang, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping is reported to have last stayed during his state visit to North Korea in 2019.

Mr Putin is expected to arrive with his new Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak will also be part of the delegation.

Mr Kim said last week that relations with Russia had “evolved into an unbreakable relationship of comrades-in-arms”.

During their meeting last year, Mr Putin said he saw “potential” for military cooperation with North Korea, while Mr Kim wished the Russian president “victory” in Ukraine.

The White House has said the US is concerned about the close ties between Russia and North Korea.

“We are not concerned about Mr. Putin's visit,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday. “What we are concerned about is the deep relationship between these two countries.”

John Neilson-Wright, head of the Japan and Korea program at Cambridge University's Center for Geopolitics, said Mr Putin was “strengthening ties with his old Cold War partner to counter any suggestion that the US and its allies”. to isolate Moscow”.

“He is strengthening relations between authoritarian regimes at a time when democratic governments are on the defensive, facing global security challenges” in the Middle East, East Asia and Ukraine, he added.

In 2000, early in his presidential career, Mr. Putin met with Mr. Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, who was still supreme leader.

Relations between the two pariah states have grown in recent years, especially since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russia continues to face arms shortages in the war in Ukraine.

Washington and Seoul have accused Pyongyang of supplying Moscow with artillery and other equipment, possibly in exchange for food and military aid and technology. Both North Korea and Russia deny the existence of the arms deal.

After North Korea, Mr Putin is expected to visit Vietnam, a communist state and longtime ally, where the two countries are expected to discuss issues such as trade.