Putin travels tp North Korea TOMORROW for ‘friendly state visit’

• Trip comes nine months after Kim visited the Kremlin chief in Russia’s Far East

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to travel to North Korea tomorrow for a ‘friendly’ visit amid suspicion Moscow is seeking to secure a long-term supply of munitions for its war in Ukraine from Pyongyang.

The Kremlin chief’s visit to the world’s most reclusive state comes with the window for Russia‘s forces to consolidate battlefield gains in eastern Ukraine shrinking, with the arrival of more Western arms and the first delivery of F-16 fighter jets imminent. 

It also comes nine months after Putin hosted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on a rare foreign trip to the Russian Far East, where the pair lavished each other with praise.

Putin has been in power in Russia, either as President or Prime Minister, for almost a quarter century, but his arrival in North Korea tomorrow will mark just the second visit to the country since he was made president in 2000.

He made his first trip just months into his first-ever presidential term 24 years ago to meet Kim Jong Un’s father Kim Jong Il.

Western countries, South Korea and Kyiv have accused Pyongyang of sending weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine, in violation of UN sanctions on North Korea.

But in March, Russia used its UN Security Council veto to effectively end UN monitoring of North Korean sanctions violations, a move seen as a victory for Pyongyang. 

The US and South Korea say Russia has in return provided Pyongyang with technical help for its satellite programme – which Kim seems hell-bent on pursuing despite numerous failed launches – and sent aid to the food-strapped state.

Kim said last week that ties with Russia had ‘developed into an unbreakable relationship of comrades-in-arms’, underscoring the development of the relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang.

When the leaders saw each other in September, Putin said he saw ‘possibilities’ for military cooperation with North Korea, while Kim wished the Kremlin chief ‘victory’ in Ukraine.

They symbolically gifted each other rifles and the Kremlin promised that Putin would visit in turn.

A string of Russian officials, including Moscow’s spy chief, have since visited North Korea in preparation for the visit.

Putin himself has scaled down his trips abroad since launching the Ukraine offensive, but has paid some high-profile visits to Moscow’s few key allies such as China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Pyongyang meanwhile rarely hosts foreign guests due to its self-imposed isolation which since the Covid pandemic has grown ever more strict.

In 2000 – the last time Putin went to North Korea – the Russian President was a frequent traveller, regularly touring the United States and Europe.

Now Russia finds itself under heavy international sanctions and the Kremlin leader is a persona non grata in most of the Western world, officially wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Both Russia and North Korea have denied that Pyongyang’s weapons are being used in Ukraine.

Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jon, accused Seoul and Washington last month of ‘misleading public opinion’ on the issue.

Ukraine, however, has reported finding North Korean shells on the battlefield.

In May, South Korea said its northern rival fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles, with some experts saying they could be tests for weapons destined for use against Ukraine.

As the Kremlin and Pyongyang have publicly deepened their ties, Moscow’s relationship with South Korea – a Ukraine backer – has been hugely strained, as Seoul is a major weapons exporter to Kyiv. 

South Korea last month announced separate sanctions on Russian and North Korean individuals and companies allegedly trading military supplies.

And President Yoon Suk Yeol last month promised to maintain his support for Kyiv in a phone call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

For its part, Russia earlier this year detained a South Korean man, Baek Won-soon, on spy charges. 

He is believed to be the first South Korean detained on espionage charges in Russia for decades.

According to media reports, he may have been a missionary helping North Korean workers in Russia escape the country.