Kim Jong-Un arrives in Russia for talks on expected arms deal with Putin
Justin McCurry
Kim Jong-un has arrived in Russia for a rare summit with president Vladimir Putin to discuss a possible deal to supply North Korean arms for the war in Ukraine.
Kim’s armoured train arrived at Khasan station, the main rail gateway to Russia’s Far East from North Korea, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed Russian official source.
The meeting is expected to be held on Tuesday afternoon on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, where Putin has already arrived.
Kim’s trip to Russia and meeting with Putin will be a full-scale visit to strengthen ties, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a video posted online.
The meeting comes amid concerns in the west that Pyongyang plans to provide weapons to Moscow to replace stocks that have been heavily depleted during 18 months of fighting in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Peskov dismissed US warnings on any arms deal, with Russian news agencies quoting him as saying: “As you know, while implementing our relations with our neighbours, including North Korea, the interests of our two countries are important to us, and not warnings from Washington.
“It is the interests of our two countries that we will focus on.”
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Key events
Here is a little bit more, via AP, on what Vladimir Putin had to say on Tuesday morning about the legal situation of Donald Trump. The former US president is facing multiple trails in the US over his alleged mishandling of classified documents and attempts to subvert the electoral process. He was also vowed to lock up his political enemies if he is president again.
Putin commented:
As for the persecution of Trump, for us, in the current environment, it’s good because it shows the rottenness of the American system. It is a politically motivated persecution of one’s competitor.
And this shows who we are fighting … as they said in Soviet times: ‘the bestial face of American capitalism.’
Current authorities have directed American society in an anti-Russian spirit. They’ve done it and now somehow turning this ship in the other direction will be very difficult.
Vladimir Putin has directly addressed the war in Ukraine during the Q&A session at the eastern economic forum in Vladivostok. He has said that the Ukrainian counter-offensive has not made any progress. He accused British secret services of being involved in training Ukrainian saboteurs to launch attacks on Russian infrastructure. He said the deployment of cluster munitions and armaments that utilise depleted uranium by Ukrainian forces is a crime. He said that he believed Ukraine would eventually seek peace talks when it was close to running out of resources.
There are unconfirmed reports and video clips circulating on social media that appear to show an explosion has occurred near the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.
More details soon …
As part of the Q&A session at the eastern economic forum in Vladivostok, Vladimir Putin was asked specifically about the legal woes of former US president Donald Trump.
He said the prosecution of Trump was good news for Russia, and illustrated that the US system was corrupt.
Putin has been asked what he expects from the 2024 US election. He said that whoever wins he does not expect any significant change in foreign policy towards Russia from the US, which he says views Russia as an enemy despite there being many people there who would prefer to have decent businesslike relations.
At the eastern economic forum in Vladivostok, Vladimir Putin has again opted not to confirm that he will run again for Russian president next year. Elections are expected in March 2024.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is continuing to speak at the eastern economic forum in Vladivostok. He is currently participating in a Q&A session.
During the course of it he has spoken about Arkady Volozh, the co-founder of Russian technology company Yandex who has been critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Putin said the Israel-based businessman had the right to express his position – which is somewhat in contrast to the judicial process in Russia where opposition to the war has been punished.
In other comments likely to make headlines, Putin was asked specifically in relation to the failed Luna-25 moon mission whether more private businesses should be involved in Russia’s space programme, with Elon Musk’s SpaceX business cited as a precedent. Putin went on to describe Musk as talented and distinguished.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Tuesday he had vetoed a parliamentary bill that sought to retain closed asset declarations for officials.
Parliament voted last Tuesday to restore a declaration rule that was suspended after Russia’s 2022 invasion as a security precaution but, in an important loophole, to keep the disclosures closed to the public for another year.
“Declarations should be open. Immediately. Not in a year,” Reuters reports Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine has applied to become a member of the European Union, and has embarked on an anti-corruption drive as part of an attempt to speed up the process.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, has issued its morning news bulletin on Telegram. It notes that in the past 24 hours one civilian has been killed in Donetsk region, and six have been injured in Kherson region as a result of the war.
Here is a still image of Vladimir Putin addressing the economic forum in the far east of Russia, where he has delivered a speech almost exclusively devoted to domestic concerns.
So far Vladimir Putin’s speech in Vladivostok at the eastern economic forum has almost exclusively focused on statistics and boasts of strategic investment in the region.
Reuters reports that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has officially confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived in Russia, reiterating earlier reports. It cited the Interfax news agency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently addressing an economic forum in the far east of the country. We will bring you any key lines that emerge.
