Tag: Vladimir Putin

It looks like Putin and Kim are now BFF’s:

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty calling for mutual assistance if either is attacked Wednesday as they held summit talks in Pyongyang.

Putin also said Russia does not rule out military and technical cooperation with North Korea in line with the partnership treaty, fueling concern the two countries could further deepen their already serious military cooperation, including in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“The treaty on comprehensive partnership signed today provides for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this treaty,” Putin said after summit talks with Kim, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.

Putin hailed the treaty as a “truly groundbreaking document” that “reflects the desire of the two countries not to rest on their laurels, but to bring our relations to a new qualitative level,” according to TASS. (……)

Kim declared that the North’s relations Russia have been upgraded to the level of alliance. (….)

Kim expressed “full support” Wednesday for Russia’s war in Ukraine and pledged to strengthen strategic cooperation, according to TASS.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is an area where South Korea has decided to break away from many western countries and attend Czar President Putin’s inauguration ceremony:

South Korean Ambassador to Russia Lee Do-hoon attended the inauguration ceremony of its leader Vladimir Putin, who began his fifth term as president on Tuesday (local time), Seoul officials said.

Lee’s attendance at the event held at the Kremlin came in contrast to counterparts from South Korea’s ally, the United States, and many Western countries that boycotted the event over its war in Ukraine. European Union nations were also divided over sending delegations to the inauguration, according to news reports. 

The decision was made after careful consideration of various pending bilateral issues and the need to manage bilateral relations with Moscow, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The bromance between Putin and Kim continues:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has received a Russian-made luxury car from Russian President Vladimir Putin as a gift demonstrating the special bonds between the two leaders, state media reported Tuesday.

The gift serves as a “clear demonstration of the special personal relations between the two leaders and as the best one,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Russia conveyed the vehicle for Kim’s personal use Sunday to Pak Jong-chon, a secretary of the ruling Worker’s Party of Korea, and Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North’s leader. She delivered Kim Jong-un’s thanks to Putin to the Russian side, the report said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Dictatorship 101 says to put large portraits of yourself everywhere and for Putin he even has the North Koreans putting up his picture now. This is a bit surprising because it makes North Korea look like a vassal state:

Kim Jong Un decorated his walls with huge portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin during a tour of a state office building, state media images show.

The portraits were visible as the North Korean leader gave a personal tour to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Shoigu was attending a banquet at the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party headquarters in Pyongyang, per the Daily Mail. It comes as the country celebrated the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, which took place from 1950 to 1953.

In the bizarre images, Kim and Shoigu can be seen walking down a corridor while huge portraits of Putin and Kim loom over them from either side.

Business Insider

You can read more at the link.

I believe Putin just like his buddies in Beijing don’t want the North Korean problem solved because it ties up so many U.S. military and diplomatic assets to deal with that would be otherwise focused on them:

Putin made the remark during a virtual session with chiefs of global news agencies at an annual economic forum in St. Petersburg on Friday (Russia time), as the nuclear negotiations between the North and the United States remain deadlocked after the breakdown of the Hanoi summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and then U.S. President Donald Trump in early 2019. 

“The North Korean nuclear problem is not going to be resolved by pressuring the North and toughening the sanctions against it,” Putin said through an interpreter when asked by Cho Sung-boo, CEO and president of Yonhap News Agency in Seoul to comment on Moscow’s stance on North Korean nuclear issues.

“Only by ensuring the security of its people, and with patience and a careful approach, should we be able to resolve this problem,” he said. 

Moscow has favored a phased-in approach to denuclearize the North that would come with reciprocal steps, including a partial lifting of U.N. sanctions, as the regime takes measures to roll back its nuclear program.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If Putin wants reciprocal measures how about he tell Kim Jong-un to start shipping out nuclear material from North Korea?  Whenever the apologists talk about reciprocal measures they always demand that the US drop sanctions for little to nothing in return from North Korea:

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, talked about easing sanctions on North Korea in their talks Wednesday on the sidelines of a regional summit in Singapore, Moon’s office said.

Moon requested Moscow’s active role in efforts to persuade Pyongyang to take denuclearization steps in a “bolder manner,” according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom.

They had “comprehensive” discussions on the terms and conditions of easing sanctions on the North, he added.

In the 58-minute meeting, Putin was quoted as telling Moon that there should be reciprocal measures if there is progress in denuclearization.

The meeting, their fourth since Moon took office last year, came days after high-level denuclearization negotiations between the United States and the North were abruptly called off last week.

In Wednesday’s meeting, Moon and Putin were expected to discuss ways to get the denuclearization talks restarted at an early date, as well as measures to further strengthen relations between the two countries.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Kim Jong-un may be heading off to Russia in the near future:

Pyongyang and Moscow are working to arrange an official visit to Russia for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a top Russian politician revealed Friday.

“(I) attended North Korea’s 70th foundation anniversary event on orders from President Putin,” Valentina Matviyenko, chairwoman of Russia’s Federation Council, told Seoul’s National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong ahead of her meeting with President Moon Jae-in. “There was a meeting with Chairman Kim Jong-un. (Moscow and Pyongyang) are negotiating on the dates and location of the Chairman Kim Jong-un’s visit to Russia.”

Matviyenko’s comments confirm rumors that have been circulating for some time, regarding the possibility that Kim might be planning to travel to Moscow in the near future.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link, but this could just be more optics to make Kim Jong-un look more like a legitimate world leader by visiting Russia.  The timing of this will be interesting to see if he visits Putin before meeting with President Trump if a second Trump-Kim summit does in fact happen.

President Moon Jae-in (L) talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow on June 22, 2018, while having a summit there. (Yonhap)