Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is ready to go to North Korea this weekend, marking the most recent in a string of high-level journeys by senior Moscow officers as the 2 nations strengthen their navy cooperation.
Pyongyang has emerged as one of many Kremlin’s important allies throughout its Ukraine invasion, sending hundreds of troops to Russia’s Kursk area to oust Kyiv’s forces and offering the Russian military with artillery shells and missiles.
Lavrov “will visit the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on July 11-13” for the “second round of strategic dialogue at the level of foreign ministers”, Russian ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova advised reporters in Moscow on Wednesday.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reported earlier that Lavrov would go to “at the invitation of the DPRK Foreign Ministry.”
Ahead of the go to, Russia introduced that it will start twice-a-week flights between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Its aviation company Rosaviatsia, issued an order permitting Moscow-based airline Nordwind to run flights between the 2 capitals from later this month.
With North Korea supporting Moscow’s Ukraine invasion, Russian officers have touted the secretive state as a dependable vacation vacation spot.
Around 600 North Korean troopers have been killed and hundreds extra wounded preventing for Russia, Seoul has stated.
North Korea solely confirmed it had deployed troops to assist Russia’s conflict in April, and admitted its troopers had been killed in fight.
Leader Kim Jong Un has subsequently been proven in state media photos honouring the flag-draped coffins of North Korean troopers killed whereas serving to Russia combat Ukraine.
Russia’s safety chief Sergei Shoigu has visited Pyongyang a number of occasions this yr, together with final month.
The two heavily-sanctioned nations signed a navy deal final yr, together with a mutual defence clause, throughout a uncommon go to by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the nuclear-armed North Korea.
Shoigu introduced that North Korea would ship builders and deminers to the Kursk area.
The frequency of senior Russian officers’ visits to Pyongyang “is highly unusual,” Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University in southeastern South Korea, advised AFP.
“At the centre of these discussions may well be plans for Kim’s anticipated visit to Russia,” he added.
Source: www.dailysabah.com