North Korea’s Kim Jong Un leaves for Russia, to hold talks with Vladimir Putin

SEOUL/MOSCOW, September 11

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has set off for Russia aboard a special train, a South Korean source said, as Pyongyang and Moscow on Monday confirmed a summit with President Vladimir Putin amid Russia's deepening isolation over the war in Ukraine.

Kim has been invited by Putin, the Kremlin said, while North Korean state news agency KCNA said the two would "meet and have a talk", without elaborating.

US officials have said the pair would discuss possible arms deals to aid Russia's war in Ukraine and provide North Korea with a much-needed economic and political lifeline.

Washington and its allies have been voicing concern at recent signs of closer military cooperation between Russia and the nuclear-armed North.

It will be Kim's second summit with Putin, after the pair met in 2019.

Despite denials by both Pyongyang and Moscow, the United States has said talks are advancing actively for North Korea to supply arms to Russia, which has expended vast stocks of weapons in more than 18 months of war. The North Korean leader left aboard his train late on Sunday, a senior South Korean government said. — Reuters

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