Putin Meets North Korean FM, Thanks Pyongyang for Ukraine War Support
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- Putin met North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui at the Kremlin on Sunday, thanking Pyongyang for supporting his military operations against Ukraine and praising bilateral relations, according to Russian state media Tass.
- Choe Son Hui told Putin that Kim Jong Un remains committed to the "comprehensive development" of relations with Russia; North Korean state media has not disclosed the purpose of her visit, which began Saturday at the invitation of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
- Kim Jong Un has sent thousands of troops and massive weapons supplies to support Putin's war in Ukraine, and signed a strategic partnership agreement with Putin in Pyongyang in June 2024 pledging mutual aid if either faces aggression.
- South Korea's Unification Ministry said Monday it is closely monitoring the meetings but declined to assess whether Moscow and Pyongyang were coordinating another Putin-Kim summit.
- Choe's Moscow visit followed closely timed North Korea-China exchanges this month, with Cabinet premier Pak Thae Song meeting Xi Jinping in Beijing and Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Huning visiting Kim in Pyongyang.
- Kim has suspended all meaningful dialogue with the United States and South Korea since his 2019 nuclear diplomacy with Trump collapsed, and has used the Ukraine war as a distraction to accelerate his nuclear and missile programs.
Why it matters: Putin publicly thanking North Korea for backing his Ukraine war — days after high-level North Korea-China exchanges — signals tightening coordination among the three states that share a stated interest in opposing Washington, while Kim continues advancing nuclear and missile programs under the cover of that distraction.
