Vladimir Putin and Kim’s meeting will be full-scale visit, says Kremlin

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s trip to Russia and meeting with President Vladimir Putin will be a full-scale visit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

Kim has set off for Russia aboard a special armoured train, a South Korean official said, as Pyongyang and Moscow on Monday confirmed a summit with President Vladimir Putin amid Russia’s deepening isolation over its actions in Ukraine. The armoured train that Kim uses for foreign visits appears to have departed Pyongyang, South Korean media reported citing a government official.

“There will be talks between the two delegations. And after that, if necessary, the leaders will continue their communication in a one-on-one format,” Peskov said. A video of his remarks was posted on social media by a Kremlin journalist Pavel Zarubin.

According to Peskov, the main topic of the talks will be bilateral relations between the neighbouring countries.

“We will continue to strengthen our friendship,” Peskov said.

If the summit with Putin goes ahead, it will be the North Korean leader’s first international trip in more than four years, and the first since the pandemic.

The two leaders are expected to discuss the possibility of North Korea providing Moscow with weapons to support its war in Ukraine, a US official earlier told CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

Kim’s last trip abroad was also to Vladivostok in 2019 for his first summit with Putin after the collapse of North Korea’s nuclear disarmament talks with then US President Donald Trump.