MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Friday that no agreements had been signed during North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s ongoing visit to Russia, amid Western concern that the two isolated countries could be preparing an arms deal.

Kim is on a rare trip out of his reclusive country in the Russian Far East, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week.

Moscow is believed to be interested in buying North Korean ammunition to continue fighting in Ukraine, while Pyongyang wants Russia’s help to develop its missile programme.

Western countries have warned Russia and North Korea against striking an arms deal, which would defy sanctions on Pyongyang.

Japanese PM says he’s willing to meet North Korean leader

“No agreements were signed and there was no plan to sign any,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

After meeting Kim on Wednes­day, Putin said he saw “possibilities” for military cooperation.

As part of his extended tour of the Russian Far East, Kim visited a Russian military aviation factory Friday in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a key Russian engineering hub, Moscow said.

He saw the production of Russia’s Sukhoi Su-35 and Su-57 fighter aircraft and watched a demonstration flight of an Su-35.

“We see the potential for cooperation both in the field of aircraft manufacturing and in other industries,” said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov after accompanying Kim around the factories.

“This is especially important for achieving the tasks facing our countries to achieve technological sovereignty,” said Manturov, also the trade and industry minister.

Russia has said that Kim will continue his visit for several more days, without giving a specific time frame.

Willing to meet

A top Japanese government official said on Friday that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was willing to meet Kim “without pre-conditions”.

Kishida had previously said he was ready to hold talks with Kim, but the repeated invitation comes as regional concerns around the Putin talks grow.

“We would like to hold high-level discussions under direct control of the prime minister to achieve a summit meeting as soon as possible,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.

Kishida “has been expressing his determination to directly face” Kim at “any time and without pre-conditions”, Matsuno said.

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said on Friday that Seoul was considering further sanctions against Moscow and Pyongyang if they strike an arms deal.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2023