Putin's Meeting With Kim Jong Un Sparks Warning From UK Official

The United Kingdom's defense secretary on Wednesday issued a warning about the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Putin on Wednesday met with Kim in North Korea, the Russian president's first visit to the country in 24 years, as the two leaders sought to strengthen their relations.

Russia has increasingly found it isolated from the West amid its invasion of Ukraine, which Putin launched in February 2022. The "special military operation" sparked rebuke from most of Europe. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which has long had a tumultuous relationship with Russia, views the invasion as unprovoked and as a potential threat to the rest of Europe.

Amid the backlash, Putin has worked to strengthen ties to other countries, such as China and North Korea, both of which have famously tense relations with much of the West.

U.K. Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps posted a warning about the meeting in a post to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday.

"The bizarre scenes from Putin's North Korea visit should be taken as a warning. A new axis of tyranny is working to undermine our freedoms," Shapps posted.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment via email.

Javed Ali, a professor at the University of Michigan and former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council told Newsweek on Wednesday that the meeting "underscores the strategic partnership between both countries and will allow Russia to obtain more artillery, shells arms and ammunition from North Korea to use in the conflict.

North Korea, meanwhile, may benefit from economic and technological advances from Russia, he said.

"The United States and its partners in NATO and Asia should be concerned over these growing ties. Russia has also developed a similar relationship with Iran, where Tehran has supplied drones and rockets that likewise Russia has used en masse against Ukraine over the past two years," he said.

During the visit, Kim said that he pledged "full support" for Russia's war in Ukraine, though it remains unclear exactly what this support would look like.

Russia's Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday that a "new fundamental document has been prepared," designed as a fresh foundation for Russian-North Korean relations. State media had reported that the two leaders would sign what it termed a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty that addressed security issues.

Western intelligence has concluded that North Korea has already provided weapons, including ballistic missiles, for Russia's war effort in Ukraine. But this has been denied by leaders in Russia and North Korea.

The Associated Press reported that the deal could be the "strongest connection" between the two countries since the Cold War. Although specific details remain unclear, the deal is expected to see them strengthen cultural, economic, humanitarian, investment and security ties, the AP reported.

Ahead of the meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Putin has "in desperation" tried to "develop and to strengthen relations with countries that can provide it with what it needs to continue the war of aggression that it started against Ukraine" during a press briefing on Tuesday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during the same briefing that the meeting "demonstrates and confirms the very close alignment between Russia and authoritarian states like North Korea, but also China and Iran."

"We are, of course, also concerned about the potential support that Russia provides to North Korea when it comes to supporting their missile and nuclear programs. We see how much military support Russia gets from North Korea but also from Iran, and how China is propping up their war economy," Stoltenberg said.

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