Steel Alliance. Vladimir Putin Will Visit North Korea

Russian President Vladimir Putin “with gratitude” accepted the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to visit North Korea. The Kremlin clarified that the trip will take place “at the most opportune time.” Putin is already scheduled to visit China in October, where he is expected to hold talks with President Xi Jinping.

President Kim Jong-un extended the invitation to Putin after a one-on-one summit at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Amur region. “Kim Jong-un kindly invited Putin to visit North Korea at the most opportune time. Putin accepted the invitation with pleasure and confirmed his desire to continue the history and traditions of friendship between Russia and North Korea,” writes the North Korean news agency KCNA. According to him, both leaders discussed strengthening cooperation in all areas of mutual interest in order to “thwart the military threat and provocation of the imperialists.”

Preparations for Putin’s trip were immediately delegated to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who will travel to Pyongyang in October. There will be no more Russian sanctions against North Korea, he said after the Putin-Kim summit. From now on, we will work as equal partners, he added, and we will not allow new sanctions against North Korea to be approved in the UN Security Council. We will block them. Russian media emphasized that “Russia has actually withdrawn from anti-nuclear sanctions against North Korea.”

Strengthening relations between Russia, China, and North Korea “scares the West,” wrote the Italian newspaper Avvenire, calling the tripartite alliance a “steel pact.”

“The axis between Putin and Kim also enjoys the blessing of Xi Jinping,” the authoritative Catholic newspaper emphasized, according to which “this marks the dawn of the UN and serves as a prelude to a new era.”