Kim Jong-un on track for weapons talks with Putin

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was expected to arrive in Russia last night for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, after a 20-hour journey from Pyongyang by armoured train.

- ARPAN RAI

Western intelligence agencies expect the two to discuss North Korea supplying weapons and ammunition to support Russia’s war machine in Ukraine. Moscow is expending thousands of artillery shells a day during its invasion and is struggling to keep up with the demand. Tough sanctions imposed by Kyiv’s Western allies have forced Mr Putin to turn towards the few nations openly supporting the 18-month invasion.

South Korean media, citing government sources, said that the train had left the North Korean capital on Sunday evening and that the summit would likely be held today or tomorrow in Vladivostok – just 80 miles from the Russia-North Korea border.

The extreme weight of the bulletproof train, with its signature olive green colour, will have made for a relatively slow journey. It was expected to cover the 683 miles to Vladivostok in about 20 hours, travelling at a speed of about 37 miles per hour, with a long stopover at the border to switch wheels that fit Russian railway tracks.

It will be the first foreign visit by Mr Kim in more than four years, with the nation’s borders sealed during the Covid pandemic. Mr Kim’s last trip abroad in 2019 was also to Vladivostok for his first summit with Mr Putin.