Ukraine war: Kim Jong Un 'to visit Putin for weapons talks'

North Korea's chief Kim Jong Un intends to go to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin.

The two chiefs will talk about the chance of North Korea giving Moscow weapons to help its conflict in Ukraine, the authority said.

Where talks would be held isn't clear.

The Kremlin representative had "nothing to say" on the reports, which were likewise conveyed by different US media. North Korea did not immediately respond with a response.

Sources told the New York Times that Mr Kim was probably going to go by shielded train.

The conceivable gathering comes after the White House said it had new data that arms discussions between the two nations were "effectively progressing".

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John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, stated that during a recent trip to North Korea, Russia's Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, attempted to "convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition" to Russia.

It is believed that Russia could require 122mm and 152mm shells in light of the fact that its stocks are running short, however it isn't not difficult to decide North Korea's full mounted guns stock, given its cryptic nature.

Weapons in plain view at the gathering between Mr Kim and Mr Shoigu in July incorporated the Hwasong intercontinental long range rocket, accepted to be the country's most memorable ICBM to utilize strong charges.

Since the Covid pandemic, Mr. Kim had never before let in guests from outside the country.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS Image caption, Mr. Putin and Mr. Kim have since exchanged letters "pledging to increase their bilateral cooperation," according to Mr. Kirby.

"We ask the DPRK to stop its arms discussions with Russia and maintain the public responsibilities that Pyongyang has made to not give or offer arms to Russia," he said, involving a shortening for the North.

He cautioned the US would make a move, including forcing sanctions, on the off chance that North Korea provided Russia with weapons.

The two chiefs last met in 2019, when Mr Kim showed up via train in Vladivostok, in Russia's far east. He was invited by authorities with a conventional contribution of bread and salt. Additionally, this was probably Mr. Kim's final overseas trip.

There is concern both in Washington and in Seoul about what North Korea would receive as a trade-off for an arms bargain, which might bring about expanded military co-activity between the two nations in Asia.

Mr. Shoigu had suggested Russia, China, and North Korea hold joint naval drills, similar to those held by the US, South Korea, and Japan, according to a briefing from South Korea's intelligence service on Monday.

Another trepidation is that Russia could supply North Korea with weapons later on, when Pyongyang most requirements them.

Seriously stressing still, Kim Jong Un might request that Mr Putin furnish him with cutting edge weapons innovation or information, to assist him with making forward leaps in his atomic weapons program.

North Korea has additionally tried hypersonic rockets, which can fly at a few times the speed of sound and at low elevation to get away from radar location, as well as others sent off from submarines.

Missiles from North Korea IMAGE SOURCE: BBC SPORT However, a transaction may turn out to be more transactional than strategic. For the time being, Russia needs weapons, and endorsed starved North Korea needs cash and food.

According to the New York Times, Mr. Kim and Mr. Putin might meet in Vladivostok, a port city on the east coast of Russia.

The paper's political reporter, Edward Wong, told BBC News channel that a development group of North Korean authorities had headed out to Vladivostok and Moscow before the end of last month

They "included security officials who manage the convention encompassing travel of the initiative, so that was areas of strength for a for authorities taking a gander at this", Mr Wong said.

Pyongyang and Moscow have both recently rejected that the North is providing Russia with arms for use in its conflict in Ukraine.

John Everard, who filled in as UK envoy to North Korea somewhere in the range of 2006 and 2008, let the BBC know that exposure around the conceivable visit was "major areas of strength for a why the visit is currently improbable to occur", as Mr Kim is "totally distrustful about his own security".

North Korea has stores of weapons that Moscow needs and which would work with Soviet-period military hardware, despite the fact that Mr Everard said the weapons were "in exceptionally unfortunate condition".

After the Vladivostok meeting in 2019, Mr Putin said Mr Kim would require "security ensures" to leave his atomic program.

That gathering came only months after a culmination in Vietnam between Mr Kim and afterward US President Donald Trump had neglected to gain ground on denuclearising the Korean promontory.