Putin will visit North Korea on June 18 and 19

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea on June 18 on a "friendly" visit, the Kremlin announced.
The visit to the world's most isolated country comes as Putin seeks ammunition to continue his military campaign, which began in February 2022 and has plunged Moscow into unprecedented global isolation, AFP reported.
It also comes nine months after Putin hosted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on a rare foreign trip to the Russian Far East, where the two showered each other with praise.
"On June 18-19, President Vladimir Putin will pay a friendly state visit to the Democratic Republic of North Korea," the Kremlin said in a statement.
Moscow said Putin would then travel to Vietnam.
Western countries, South Korea and Kiev have accused Pyongyang of sending weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine, in violation of UN sanctions against North Korea.
Washington and Seoul say that in return, Russia has provided Pyongyang with technical assistance for its satellite program and sent aid to the food-scarce country.
Since the start of the offensive in Ukraine, Putin has reduced the number of trips abroad, but has made several high-profile visits to several key Moscow allies, such as China.
Pyongyang rarely welcomes foreign guests, being isolated diplomatically and even more introverted since the Covid pandemic.
Russia and North Korea, which share a small land border, have historic ties, as the Soviet Union helped found the small country after the Korean War in the 1950s.
Since the collapse of the USSR, Russia has been one of the few countries to maintain working relations with Pyongyang.
In March, Russia also used its veto power in the UN Security Council to end UN monitoring of sanctions violations against North Korea, a move seen as a victory for Pyongyang.
Both Russia and North Korea deny that Pyongyang's weapons are being used in Ukraine.
Kim's powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, accused Seoul and Washington last month of "misleading public opinion" on the issue.
However, Ukraine reports that it has found North Korean shells on the battlefield.
In May, South Korea said its northern rival had fired several short-range ballistic missiles, which some experts said could be tests of weapons intended for use against Ukraine.
While the Kremlin and Pyongyang have publicly deepened ties, Moscow's relationship with South Korea, a backer of Ukraine, is extremely strained.
Seoul is a major arms exporter to Kiev. Last month, the country's president Yoon Suk-yeol pledged to maintain his support in a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
South Korea also announced separate sanctions against Russian and North Korean individuals and companies allegedly trading in military supplies.
For its part, earlier this year Russia detained South Korean Baek Won Soon on espionage charges. He is believed to be the first South Korean detained on espionage charges in Russia in decades.
According to media reports, he may have been a missionary helping North Korean workers in Russia escape the country. | BGNES