Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for talks within the next few days, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The meeting “could take place withing days. It will be a full-blown visit, with talks between the two delegations, and afterward, if need be, the leaders will continue to communicate one-on-one.
“Also, a formal dinner is planned on behalf of the President of Russia in honour of the North Korean guest,” the Spokesperson said in an interview with Pavel Zarubin, a journalist at All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.
Bilateral relations will be a matter of priority during the talks, Peskov said.
“The DPRK is our neighbor. Of course, like with any other neighbor, we regard it as our duty to build good, mutually beneficial relations. That’s what we do, and what President Putin does very consistently,” Peskov went on to say.
The Kremlin earlier said Kim Jong Un was going to arrive in Russia on an official visit shortly at Putin’s invitation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. warned Kim Jong-un that North Korea would “pay a price” for supplying Russia with weapons to use in Ukraine, saying that arms negotiations between the two States were actively advancing.
Providing weapons to Russia “is not going to reflect well on North Korea and they will pay a price for this in the international community,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House.
“We have continued to squeeze Russia’s defence industrial base,” Sullivan said, and Moscow is now “looking to whatever source they can find” for goods such as ammunition.
“We will continue to call on North Korea to abide by its public commitments not to supply weapons to Russia that will end up killing Ukrainians,” Sullivan said.
