Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted a challenge from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to visit North Korea during his rare trip to Russia in a bid to strengthen ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, especially at the military level.

For the time being, no agreement has been officially announced to supply military equipment to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine, a possibility for which the US government expressed its concern again yesterday.

At the end of their talks on Wednesday, Mr Kim “kindly invited” Mr Putin to visit North Korea “in due course”, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said. The Russian president “gladly accepted the invitation” and reaffirmed his firm commitment to continuing and strengthening the “historic and traditional friendship” of the two states, according to the same source.

Mr. Kim said earlier yesterday that Moscow would win a “great victory” over its enemies, while Mr. Putin toasted the “future strengthening of cooperation” between the two states, talking about the “prospects” of military cooperation, despite international sanctions against Pyongyang over its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.

Yesterday was the first meeting between the two leaders since Kim Jong Un’s previous trip to Vladivostok in 2019.

After the arrival of the North Korean leader in Russia in his armored train, Messrs. Kim and Putin visited the facilities at the Vastochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East, which was completed in 2016 and will replace the Russian space agency’s historic Baikonur base.

This was followed by official talks, for about two hours, between the government delegations of the two states and the leaders individually. Russian Ministers of Defense Sergei Saigu, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Industry Minister Denis Madurov took part in the proceedings.

According to Mr Putin, Kim Jong Un was to attend a “demonstration” of the Russian Navy in the Pacific Ocean in Vladivostok and was also to visit factories in the aeronautical sector, “civil and military”.

He also mentioned the possibility of Moscow helping Pyongyang build satellites, following two recent failed North Korean attempts to put a military observation satellite into orbit.

The US reiterated its “concern” yesterday, insisting that Russia wants to secure North Korean munitions to use in the invasion of Ukraine.

“We are obviously concerned about any developing relationship in the field of defense between North Korea and Russia,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. While Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, also expressed concern about any cooperation in the field of satellites, which would constitute “a violation of [του Συμβουλίου Ασφαλείας] of the UN”. The US “will not hesitate” to impose sanctions in such a case, Mr Miller warned.

For its part, South Korea also expressed concern over North Korea’s possible closer military cooperation with Russia, through Unification Minister Kim Young-ho, South Korea’s national Yonhap news agency reported.