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White House says Putin and Kim Jong-un traded letters as Russia looks for munitions from North Korea

WASHINGTON: The White Home on Wednesday stated that it has new intelligence that reveals Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean chief Kim Jong Un have swapped letters as Russia seems to North Korea for munitions for the conflict in Ukraine.
Nationwide Safety Council spokesman John Kirby detailed the newest discovering simply weeks after the White Home stated that it had decided that Russian protection minister Sergei Shoigu throughout a latest go to to Pyongyang referred to as on North Korean officers to extend the sale of munitions to Moscow for its Ukraine conflict.
Kirby stated that Russia is searching for further artillery shells and different primary materiel to shore up its protection industrial base. He added that the letters have been “extra on the floor stage” however that Russian and North Korean talks on a weapons sale have been advancing. The leaders exchanged the letters following Shoigu’s go to, he stated.
“Following Shoigu’s go to one other group of Russian officers traveled to Pyongyang for follow-on discussions about potential arms offers between the DPRK and Russia,” Kirby stated, utilizing the acronym for the Democratic Folks’s Republic of Korea. Kirby declined to element how US officers had gathered the intelligence.
Shortly earlier than the White Home unveiled the brand new details about North Korea and Russia’s weapon talks, North Korea launched a ballistic missile towards its jap waters, in accordance with South Korea’s army.
The missile take a look at got here simply hours after the US flew at the least one long-range bomber to the Korean Peninsula in a present of power in opposition to the North.
The Biden administration has repeatedly made the case that the Kremlin has change into reliant on North Korea, in addition to Iran, for the arms it must combat its conflict in opposition to Ukraine. North Korea and Iran are largely remoted on the worldwide stage for his or her nuclear applications and human rights information.
In March, the White Home stated it had gathered intelligence that confirmed that Russia was trying to dealer a food-for-arms cope with North Korea, during which Moscow would supply the North with wanted meals and different commodities in return for munitions from Pyongyang.
Late final yr, the White Home stated it had decided that the Wagner Group, a non-public Russian army firm, had taken supply of an arms cargo from North Korea to assist bolster its forces preventing in Ukraine on behalf of Russia.
Each North Korea and Russia have beforehand denied the US allegations about weapons. North Korea, nevertheless, has sided with Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, insisting that the “hegemonic coverage” of the US-led West has pressured Moscow to take army motion to guard its safety pursuits.
On the United Nations on Wednesday, america, the UK, South Korea and Japan urged North Korea to halt arms negotiations with Russia.
Any Russian-North Korean arms offers would violate UN Safety Council resolutions, backed by Russia, that prohibit all nations from shopping for or acquiring any arms from the North, the 4 nations stated in a joint assertion.
“This sends the fallacious message to aspiring proliferators that in the event you promote Russia arms, Russia will even allow your pursuit of nuclear weapons,”in accordance with the assertion that was learn by US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who was flanked by diplomats from the three different nations.
President Donald Trump traded letters with Kim throughout his administration in an unsuccessful bid to encourage the North Korean chief to desert his nuclear weapons program.

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