By Athena Papakosta

They talked and agreed, but no one knows the details. There was neither a joint press conference nor any relevant written announcements.

The meeting between the two leaders was like a trailer for what is to come.

Kim Jong Un promised “full and absolute support” to Vladimir Putin’s Russia, while the Russian president, for his part, hinted that there are opportunities for bilateral military-technical cooperation although, as he noted, Moscow will comply with its international obligations .

The meeting between the two leaders lasted a little more than four hours. It took place at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East. As noted by the international media, the place of the “rendezvous” has its own meaning.

The fact that Vladimir Putin welcomed the North Korean leader to this key point and chose to tour the technology-hungry Kim Jong Un inside Russia’s most modern space launch site sends an additional message to the West. One might think that the Russian president seems to be saying “I have the advanced military technology that the leader of North Korea would like to have at his disposal… So if I want, I can offer it to him.”

The interests of the two leaders appeared to align. Kim Jong Un baptized Russia’s war in Ukraine as “Moscow’s holy struggle against imperialism” and the Russian president opened the fan of… exchanges stressing that “of course, we need to discuss economic cooperation and humanitarian aid issues but also the situation in the region”.

Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un have decided to join forces against their common enemy, the West. This is the reason that brought them together, as well as the need due to their isolation from the international community. Pyongyang has weapons and ammunition and Moscow can provide food crisis, oil and military technology to North Korea to improve its nuclear weapons.

Of course the million dollar question remains unanswered. Did Russia take up arms or not? The correspondent of the British BBC network characteristically notes: “So was there an agreement on the supply of armaments to Russia or not? We just don’t know, but what is clear, I think, is that the Kremlin is using closer ties with North Korea to send a message to Washington. That it can be under pressure, it can be subject to sanctions, but it still has the power to create problems, and even big problems for the West.”

It is a fact that since the start of the war in Ukraine, 18 months ago, and since then, the Western camp does not want Russia to have options. Let alone allies and indeed those who threaten to become the strongest nuclear power in the world, such as North Korea.

But Putin has a different view. Citing the historical ties between the two countries, he responds with a Russian proverb that says “having old friends is better than having two new ones”. Thus, the West trying to save its clothes to have half sees the geopolitical deck reshuffled leaving Washington to threaten sanctions.