Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported on Tuesday morning that Kim Jong Un’s armored train had crossed the border into Primorsky Krai. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the meeting between the North Korean leader and President Vladimir Putin will take place in the Russian Far East. Peskov also said that Kim’s visit will be “of a state nature and will be devoted to strengthening friendship.”
An armored train carrying the leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un he set off on a journey to Russiacrossed the railway bridge over the Razdolna River in Primorsky Krai and is heading north, a correspondent of the RIA Novosti agency reported on Tuesday morning.
Accompanying delegation
North Korea’s KCNA news agency reported that Kim Jong Un left Pyongyang on Sunday evening. He is accompanied by a delegation of the highest-ranking government figures, including military commanders. This was the first official confirmation from the North Korean side of earlier reports that Kim was on his way to meet with Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, where the Eastern Economic Forum takes place.
The Korean dictator went to Russia by train.JEON HEON-KYUN/PAP/EPA
Photos distributed by official North Korean media showed soldiers paying military honors and a crowd of civilians waving flowers and flags. Kim boarded a dark green train, believed to be armored and equipped with special equipment.
Kim-Putin meeting
On Monday evening, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced in a video that Kim’s visit will be of a state nature and will be devoted to “strengthening friendship.” Peskov did not provide the date of the meeting, nor did he reveal where it would be held. He only said that the leaders would meet in the Russian Far East.
As Reuters writes, it is unofficially believed that the Kim-Putin meeting will be devoted to, among others, military cooperation, including Russia’s possible purchases of North Korean weapons. The meeting will probably take place on Tuesday.
Russia i North Korea “they are not interested” in US warnings, said Dmitry Peskov in his next speech, quoted by Reuters citing Russian media. Peskov allegedly commented on Washington’s warnings against selling North Korean weapons to Russia.
– As you know, in our relations with our neighbors, including the DPRK, the interests of our two countries are important to us and we will focus on them, not on Washington’s warnings, Peskov said, according to these sources.
PAP, Reuters, RIA Nowosti
Main photo source: JEON HEON-KYUN/PAP/EPA