U.S. says Putin, Kim have swapped letters as Russia seeks arms for Ukraine
Global News
The White House said Russia is looking for additional munitions and other materials and that the letters built upon recent Russian outreach to North Korea.
The White House on Wednesday said that it has new intelligence that shows Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have swapped letters as Russia looks to North Korea for munitions for the war in Ukraine.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby detailed the latest finding just weeks after the White House said that it had determined that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during a recent visit to Pyongyang called on North Korean officials to increase the sale of munitions to Moscow for its Ukraine war.
Kirby said that Russia is looking for additional artillery shells and other basic materiel to shore up its defense industrial base.
He added that the letters were “more at the surface level” but that Russian and North Korean talks on a weapons sale were advancing. The leaders exchanged the letters following Shoigu’s visit, he said.
“Following Shoigu’s visit another group of Russian officials traveled to Pyongyang for follow-on discussions about potential arms deals between the DPRK and Russia,” Kirby said, using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Kirby declined to detail how U.S. officials had gathered the intelligence.
Shortly before the White House unveiled the new information about North Korea and Russia’s weapon talks, North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters, according to South Korea’s military. The missile test came just hours after the U.S. flew at least one long-range bomber to the Korean Peninsula in a show of force against the North.
The Biden administration has repeatedly made the case that the Kremlin has become reliant on North Korea, as well as Iran, for the arms it needs to fight its war against Ukraine. North Korea and Iran are largely isolated on the international stage for their nuclear programs and human rights records.
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