North Korea's Kim vows full support for Russia's 'just fight' in meeting with Putin at remote space base
CTV
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed support for Russia's 'just fight' during a summit with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that the U.S. warned could lead to a deal to supply ammunition for Moscow's war in Ukraine.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed support for Russia's "just fight" during a summit with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that the U.S. warned could lead to a deal to supply ammunition for Moscow's war in Ukraine.
After touring launch pads with Putin at a remote space base in Russia's Far East, Kim expressed "full and unconditional support" and said Pyongyang will always stand with Moscow on the "anti-imperialist" front.
The leaders met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome for a summit that underscores how their interests are aligning in the face of their countries' separate, intensifying confrontations with the United States.
North Korea may have tens of millions of aging artillery shells and rockets based on Soviet designs that could give a huge boost to the Russian army in Ukraine, analysts say.
But either buying arms from or providing rocket technology to North Korea would violate international sanctions that Russia has supported in the past.
The decision to meet at Cosmodrome, Russia's most important launch centre on its own soil, suggests that Kim is seeking Russian help developing military reconnaissance satellites, which he has described as crucial to enhance the threat of his nuclear-capable missiles. In recent months, North Korea has repeatedly failed to put its first military spy satellite into orbit.
Putin welcomed Kim's limousine, brought from Pyongyang in the North Korean leader's special armoured train, at the entrance to the launch facility with a handshake that lasted around 40 seconds. In his opening remarks, Putin welcomed Kim to Russia and said he was glad to see him, saying the talks would cover economic cooperation, humanitarian issues and the "situation in the region."
