North Korea’s Kim Jong Un arrives in Russia for Putin arms talks

Kim Jong Un has arrived in Russia for an expected meeting with President Vladimir Putin amid concerns that he is considering aiding Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Kim Jong Un has arrived in Russia for an expected meeting with President Vladimir Putin that has fueled Western concerns the North Korean leader will provide military support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Kim was seen disembarking from the luxury armored train on which leaders of the reclusive state usually travel, in footage aired on Russian state media.

The trip, his first outside North Korea after three years of pandemic isolation, has drawn warnings of new sanctions from the United States as it sought to head off a potential arms deal.

The South Korean defense ministry said Kim was believed to have entered Russia early Tuesday.

“We are closely monitoring if there will be negotiation between North Korea and Russia over the arms trade and technology transfer,” the ministry said in a briefing Tuesday, noting that Kim was accompanied by multiple military officers.