North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is traveling to Russia to potentially meet with the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, both Moscow and Pyongyang confirmed on Monday.
The leader of North Korea appears to be traveling by train to Russia for a potential meeting with Putin, according to multiple South Korean media outlets.
The Kremlin released a statement on Monday, sharing that it had sent an invite to Kim Jong Un to grow the relationship between the two nations.
“At the invitation of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Chairman of State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong Un will pay an official visit to Russia in the coming days,” the Kremlin said.
The exact date Kim Jong Un will visit the nation is still unknown, and it also was not specified whether the two world leaders have a scheduled meeting.
North Korea’s state media reported on Monday that the nation’s leader would “meet and have a talk” with Putin during his visit to Russia, but it did not specify when it would take place.
The two countries have been in talks prior to this expected meeting as Russia continues to look for a partner country to supply weapons and ammunition for the war in Ukraine.
Late last month, the White House shared that it had received intelligence showing Kim and Putin had exchanged letters with one another following Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit to Pyongyang.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the letters were “more at the surface level.” However, Kirby added that talks between the two countries on weapons sales were intensifying.
The visit to Russia will now be Kim’s first foreign trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. North Korea has kept its borders tightly sealed for the majority of the past three years.
Still, United States officials do not appear supportive of the talks between Russia and North Korea, with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan warning last Tuesday that North Korea would “pay a price” if it struck an arms deal with Russia.