Russia’s security chief Sergei Shoigu arrived on Tuesday in North Korea to meet leader Kim Jong Un for a second time in less than two weeks, Russian news agencies reported.
North Korea has become one of Russia’s main allies during Moscow’s more than three-year-long Ukraine offensive, sending thousands of troops to help the Kremlin oust Ukrainian forces from its Kursk border region.
Pyongyang is also arming Russia, according to various reports.
Shoigu, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, “arrived in Pyongyang on special orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin to exchange with North Korean officials in the framework of putting in place the agreements reached during his last visit on June 4”, news agencies quoted a council statement as saying.
During the early June meetings, when Shoigu met with Kim and senior military officials, the two sides said they wanted to expand and develop Russia-North Korea ties into “the powerful and comprehensive relations of strategic partnership”, according to North Korea’s state news agency KCNA.
Shoigu also visited North Korea in March.
Russia and North Korea signed a sweeping military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Putin to the nuclear-armed North.
