In response to the visit of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to Russia, where he held an extraordinary summit with President Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived Wednesday in North Korea on an official visit, Russian news agencies reported, at the height of the rapprochement between Moscow and Pyongyang.

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EDITED BY| HUXIANA

 

Politic section -  CJ journalist

 

Pyongyang - - October,18,2023

 

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A Kremlin spokesman told TASS news agency earlier that Lavrov's two-day visit would be partly focused on laying the foundations for a future visit by President Putin.

During his visit on an armored train to the Russian Far East last September, the North Korean leader invited Vladimir Putin to visit his country.

The summit raised Western fears that Pyongyang could supply Moscow with weapons needed for its long-running war in Ukraine.

The United States said on Friday that arms shipments were already underway.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in an interview with reporters that North Korea has delivered "more than a thousand containers" of military equipment and ammunition to Russia in recent weeks.

In return, North Korea is seeking Russian military equipment and"advanced technologies," especially aircraft, missiles, armored vehicles and equipment used to produce ballistic missiles, he said.

A chart released by the White House showed that a container load was shipped by sea from the port of nagin in North Korea to the Donai in Russia between the first of September and the first of October.

The containers were transported by train to an ammunition depot located about 290 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

But the Kremlin said on Tuesday that the accusations made by the West against Russia were not based on any evidence.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by TASS news agency as saying that British and American intelligence have been making these accusations for a long time, but they "have not provided any evidence at all".

Analysts at the Beyond Parallel cell of the CSIS think tank in Washington last week published satellite images of what they described as an "unprecedented" increase in train traffic along the border between Russia and North Korea.

The renewed activity "most likely indicates that North Korea is supplying weapons and ammunition to Russia,"the group said.

Russia has confirmed that it has increased its missile production this year to meet the planned target of 2.5 million missiles, but analysts have suggested that this may not be enough for its needs. Russian troops fire 60 thousand shells a day, according to Ukrainian data.

North Korea is a large producer of conventional weapons and has a stock of Soviet-era military equipment, but its status is unknown.

During his visit to Russia last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said he would make relations between North Korea and Moscow his "first priority".