Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin plan to meet in Russia to discuss weapons

In a rare foray from his country, Kim would travel from Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, probably by armoured train, to Vladivostok, on the east coast of Russia, where he would meet with Putin, the officials said. Kim could possibly go to Moscow, though that is not certain.

Putin wants Kim to agree to send Russia artillery shells and anti-tank missiles, and Kim would like Russia to provide North Korea with advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, the officials said. Kim is also seeking food aid for his impoverished nation.

Both leaders would be on the campus of Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok to attend the Eastern Economic Forum, which is scheduled to run Sunday to Sept. 13, according to the officials. Kim also plans to visit Pier 33, where naval ships from Russia’s Pacific fleet dock, they said. North Korea celebrates the anniversary of its founding on Saturday.

On Wednesday, the White House warned that Putin and Kim had exchanged letters discussing a possible arms deal, citing declassified intelligence. A White House spokesperson, John F Kirby, said high-level talks on military cooperation between the two nations were “actively advancing.” US officials declined to give more details on the state of personal ties between the leaders, who are considered adversaries of the United States.

The new information about a planned meeting between them goes far beyond the previous warning. The intelligence relating to the plans has not been declassified or downgraded by the United States, and the officials describing it were not authorised to discuss it. They declined to provide details on how spy agencies had collected the information.

While the White House declined to discuss the new intelligence, Adrienne Watson, a National Security Council spokesperson, acknowledged that the United States expected “leader-level diplomatic engagement” on the issue of arms sales to take place between Russia and North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“We urge the DPRK to cease its arms negotiations with Russia and abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia,” she said in a statement after this story was published.

At other times since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, US officials have released declassified intelligence to try to dissuade North Korea, China and other countries from supplying Russia with weapons. US officials say White House warnings about planned transfers of North Korean artillery shells stopped previous cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

In late August, a delegation of about 20 North Korean officials, including some who oversee security protocols for the leadership, travelled by train from Pyongyang to Vladivostok, and then flew to Moscow, an indication that North Korea was serious about a visit by Kim. Their trip, believed to be a planning expedition, took about 10 days, according to officials briefed on the intelligence reports.

One potential stop for Kim after Vladivostok, an official said, is Vostochny Cosmodrome, a space launch center that was the site of a meeting in April 2022 between Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus and a partner of Putin’s in the war in Ukraine. The center, whose first rocket launch took place in 2016, is about 950 miles north of Vladivostok.

The idea for the Russia visit came out of a trip by Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, to North Korea in July for Kim’s celebration of the 70th anniversary of the “victory” over South Korean and US forces in the Korean War, officials said. (In reality, the three-year war halted in 1953 in a stalemate and armistice agreement, and the two Koreas are still officially at war.)

Shoigu’s visit to North Korea was the first by a Russian defense minister since the fracturing of the Soviet Union in 1991. Shoigu presented Kim with a letter from Putin, according to the Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, the country’s state news service.

The agency did not indicate that Kim had explicitly mentioned Ukraine in the conversations, but it said that he had “expressed his views on the issues of mutual concern in the struggle to safeguard the sovereignty, development and interests of the two countries from the highhanded and arbitrary practices of the imperialists and to realise international justice and peace.”

Putin has characterised his war against Ukraine as one of protecting Russian sovereignty, since in his view Ukraine should be part of a restored Russian Empire.

In June, Kim sent Putin a message on Russia’s national day in which he pledged to “hold hands” with the Russian leader and promised that the Russian people would have North Korea’s “full support and solidarity” for their “all-out struggle,” according to the KCNA.

“The strengthening of the Russia-North Korea alliance comes at an opportune time for two countries with very few allies and a shared adversary in the United States,” said Jean H. Lee, a recent senior fellow on the Koreas at the Wilson Center. “It’s the resurrection of a traditional alliance that serves the strategic interests of both Putin and Kim.”

A Chinese delegation led by Li Hongzhong, a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, also visited North Korea for its celebration, and Li handed Kim a letter from Xi Jinping, China’s leader, according to North Korean state media.

Kim often exchanges affectionate and sometimes downright effusive letters with foreign leaders whom he considers allies or potential partners. He and President Donald Trump exchanged a series of letters as they prepared for historic face-to-face summits.

The United States first warned about cooperation between North Korea and Russia a year ago. Officials, citing declassified US intelligence, said that Russia planned to buy artillery shells for use in Ukraine.

In subsequent disclosures, Kirby said North Korea had shipped munitions to Russia through the Middle East and North Africa.

But US officials said that the disclosures had deterred North Korea and that few if any North Korean weapons had made it to the front lines in Ukraine.

Deterring support for Russia from North Korea, Iran and China is a critical element of the Biden administration’s strategy for helping Ukraine in its defense against Russia.

China, warned by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in February not to provide lethal aid, has supplied dual-use technology and components but has not yet sent drones or heavy weaponry to the Russian military, US officials said.

Iran has supplied drones and is helping Russia build a drone factory. But US officials believe their warnings have helped prod Iran to reconsider plans of providing ballistic missiles to Russia, at least so far.