Seoul, South Korea

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who embarked on his two-day official visit to North Korea on Wednesday (Oct 18), said that Moscow "highly values" Pyongyang's support for its Ukraine campaign, as the cooperation between both countries deepens.

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"We highly value your principled, unambiguous support for Russia's actions in connection with the special military operation in Ukraine," Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russia's RIA news agency.

Lavrov's trip comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare visit to Russia last month, to meet President Vladimir Putin. It was Kim's first trip abroad since the inception of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

The Russian foreign minister, who arrived in Pyongyang from Beijing on Wednesday, as per Russia's TASS news agency, is expected to brief the North Koreans on the results of Putin's trip to China, as well as discuss Putin's potential visit.

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Putin, during his visit to China, hailed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as an "old friend". While briefing the press, he said that the two had met alone "eye-to-eye", further adding that the mounting global conflicts "strengthen" their countries' relations.

Last month, Kim had travelled to Russia on board a specifically designed bullet-proof train for his face-to-face meeting with Putin, claiming that bilateral ties with Moscow were his country's "number one priority".

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Also read: Putin praises 'dear friend' Xi in Beijing summit, discusses Middle East and Ukraine

Calling each other "comrade", Putin and Kim toasted their friendship with Russian wine.

Relations between North Korea, Russia worrying: US

US Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim on Tuesday called relations between North Korea and Russia "worrying," after the White House released a statement saying that Pyongyang had recently supplied weapons to Moscow. 

It claimed that a load of containers was shipped by sea from North Korea to Russia between September 1 and October 1.

They were then delivered by rail to an ammunition depot about 290 kilometres (180 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

However, the Kremlin denied the accusations and said that the United States had no evidence that weapons were being shipped.

"They report this all the time, without providing any proof," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies when asked about the reported arms shipments.

Washington-based analysts Beyond Parallel last week separately released satellite images showing what they termed an "unprecedented" build-up of train traffic along Russia's border with North Korea.

The activity "likely indicates North Korea's supply of arms and munitions to Russia", the group said in its report.

(With inputs from agencies)

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