Putin scrambles for weapons in historic North Korea visit | Dr Jenny Mathers

it’s significant I think for two reasons firstly um the immediate reason is clearly Putin is shopping for weapons and ammunition to use in the war in Ukraine and North Korea has rumored to be a significant uh source of those weapons even though both Russia and North Korea deny it it’s strongly suspected that the North Koreans are supplying them with with weapons um but also as a symbolic way of saying to the the West in particular um you know I I flout your uh your petty restrictions um I’m going to to make common cause with with North Korea and you’re not going to stop me this is Kate boury it’s the Evening Edition here on times radio Vladimir Putin then will begin a two-day visit to North Korea tomorrow that’s according to the Kremlin it’s the Russian President’s first trip to the country in more than two decades it’s the latest sign of a deepening alignment that’s raised widespread International concern let’s speak to Dr Jenny Mathers senior lecturer in international politics at abis withth University and an expert on Russian politics and security good evening Jenny good evening give us the significance of this visit he’s not been in North been to North Korea Vladimir Putin for quite some time but that’s because it is pretty much a closed off country why is he being allowed in oh he’s being welcomed in with open arms um so you may recall that back in September um the leader of North Korea Kim Jil um went to uh Moscow well sorry went to to the Far East of Russia and uh was was welcomed uh very effusively by Putin visited various military technical uh facilities and you know generally sort of had a good time and invited Putin to come back uh and visit him in North Korea and this is Putin saying yes I’m I’m going to do that return visit so it’s it’s significant I think for two reasons firstly um the immediate reason is clearly Putin is shopping for weapons and ammunition to use in the war in Ukraine and North Korea has rumored to be a significant uh source of those weapons even though both Russia and North Korea deny it it’s strongly suspected that the North Koreans are supplying them with with weapons um but also as a symbolic way of saying to the the West in particular um you know I I flout your uh your petty restrictions um I’m going to to make common cause with with North Korea and you’re not going to stop me gosh goodness so there’s some shopping going on there potentially and it’s all about the symbolism as well you know two two uh two leaders who perceive themselves to be incredibly powerful and we shouldn’t you know mock that at all uh they each have their own power and together they are more powerful of course um it’s quite rare isn’t it for Vladimir Putin to make State visits it is um I mean he’s been to China recently um but apart from that you know he he tends to stay at home quite a lot especially since covid um but also now of course uh the international criminal court has got a warrant out for his arrest so he has to be careful uh where he actually travels to to make himself not vulnerable to being uh to picked up and put into handcuff so so yeah it is quite rare for for Putin to to make a major visit like this so it’s it has a a a particular symbolic sort of resonance and and significance that he’s gracing the North Koreans with his presence and what’s the significance of him going to Vietnam after this trip well this is a good question because one of the things that we’ve seen since the fullscale invasion of of Ukraine is Russia has been redoubling its efforts to reach out to countries particularly in the global South um those who are not necessarily lining up behind the West to support Ukraine um to try and and demonstrate that that it can play a leading role in the world to try and offer an alternative to the US Le you know hegemonic uh World system and so you know reaching out to specific countries trying to strike trade deals which is almost certainly what he’s going to be doing in in Vietnam um and just generally trying to improve relations is another way of again symbolically diplomatically saying um we are not actually Russia is not a pariah uh we we we laugh at your restriction we can actually travel we can do things we can strike deals uh we are in touch with with the majority of the world thank you so much uh for being with us really interesting stuff Dr Jenny Mather senior lecturer in international politics at abber sorth University thanks for being with us Jenny much appreciated Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised North Korea trade and security not controlled by the West it came in a letter published Tuesday by North Korean State media where Putin pledged his unwavering support of the isolated state that was a day after the two countries announced that Putin would visit North Korea for the first time in 24 years for a 2-day trip beginning Tuesday Putin’s letter said quote we will develop alternative mechanisms of trade and mutual settlements that are not controlled by the west and jointly resist illegitimate unilateral restrictions and at the same time he added we will build an architecture of equal and indivisible Security in Eurasia he also thanked North Korea for supporting what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine and vowed support for pyongyang’s efforts to defend its interests despite what he called Quote us pressure blackmail and Military threats there have been some signs pointing to what’s on the agenda for Putin when he visits commercial satellite imagery taken ahead of the visit showed preparations for a possible military parade in downtown pongyang Russian media said there will be one-on-one discussions between Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Putin’s foreign policy advisers said Russia and North Korea may sign a partnership agreement during the visit that would include security issues US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller repeated charges this week that North Korea had supplied weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine Moscow and pongyang have denied arms transfers after North Korea Putin is set to spend another 2 Days in [Music] Vietnam e e e e

“North Korea has rumoured to be a significant source of those weapons, even though both Russia and North Korea deny it.”

Putin is visiting North Korea for the first time in 24 years. He is “shopping for weapons and ammunition to use in Ukraine” says Dr. Jenny Mathers, Senior Lecturer in International Politics at Aberystwyth University.

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44 comments

  3. US NATO decimated by the latest debacle …. Afghanistan Syria Libya Ghaza Iraq Somalia Ukraine…..in reality Moscow is shoring up frontiers in case the dying hegemony of USA goes completely as as demented as its current President by continuing to bring down Russia from its own border!!

  5. Welcome Putin ,the first visit Vietnam communist to day. He needed relationships to defense ministry and economic planning affairs with Camaraderie …? Thanks for sharing.( RCL Veterans)🇺🇸🇨🇦🇫🇷🇩🇪🇦🇺🇬🇧🇹🇼🇮🇹

  6. Hahaha here comes the western lies…lol..so you telling the world NK who was under santions longer than Russia, who western media told us was starving is give putin weapons, a country whose economy is growing at 5% and a exporter of weapons systems, the best weapons in the world….really, you idiots

  7. 50+ courtiers combined cannot produce enough shells and weapons to beat Russia. 50+ countries combined failed to destroy Russia economically with their sanctions. Russia, alone outproduces all the "civilized" west militarily. Russia, alone beats them all in the economy war. Maybe its time for some self reflection, acceptance of our defeat and some attempt to save face?

  8. Between the rusty, broken down old ships the world laughed at in Cuba last week and Pootsie' begging North Korea for weapons, I think the entire planet is laughing at Rushins' these days🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

  13. Dear President Putin please stop the war and mas destruction of planet nature please think of the children's welfare in all this weapons use so many of you world leaders agos are out of control

  14. Y'all are delusional thinking he is going there to shop he is going there to show you that he doesn't care what Americans thinks of him and he is going to support all the wests enemies while having a nuclear submarine miles away from Miami keep laughing that's what caused all this

  15. I don't have to give you section one all section 2 what I have to give you and let the People leaving peace and living freedom so I don't have to do I'm not very good at what I do a president are president of North Korea does he want to press my luck and he's got two big do you want to see you upset so try find a way to work out peace in your own heart my friend try to do that try to do that peace for your people p Mr President of North Korea.

  24. Why US officials travel to Israel, Ukraine and taiwan day and night? what makes new for Putin? is there any dictator than supporting genocide in Gaza and violating ICC order?

  27. Not only North Korean new arms deals but also lots minerals from Vietnam to produce and boost new weapons. Russian feet on African nations and now on Asia and south east Asia. Mr. Putin’s very brilliant moves.

  29. Putin double or real thing? Pathetic that Russia has to go begging for weapons from its lousy allies.

  36. From Amsterdam NOIR POWER to Russia and INDIA and China and Gaza and Houthi and Hungry and Turky and Iran and the farmers and Slovaky and free Africa and Brasil and the dutch pary FvD and the BRICS Countrys

  40. "scrambles for weapons" as if Russia isn't already the biggest weapons manufacturer outside of the U.S. The media have been reporting that Russia has been running out of weapons for almost 2 years.

  42. They are trying to portray this in a negative light but in reality it is a nightmare for the west. North Korea is one of most militarized countries in the world. They have tons of Soviet ammo , and parts are compatible with Russia hardware. In addition Chinese style factories already exists in North Korea, Russia delivery the raw material and production is off; adding to Russia's massive production and protected from attacks . Such material and weapons can be shipped by rail by an already protected land boarder or by sea or by proxy (,third country . Combined Russia and North Korea can produce 15 to 20 times what the combined west can.

    This is worse than the cold war in some ways 🤦🏾‍♂️

    End this proxy game in Ukraine before it goes to far .

  44. Scrambles for weapons ?? Riiiiight just like they where running out when they started the war? If he was scrambling nobody would be concerned if he was desperate Nato would be calm and that's not the case. Last time I checked Russian is gaining more and more land the more this goes. They should accept a peace offer now because each time they sit down they will have less land to keep. And unless ww3 start no Nato troops will get involved let alone the USA. Don't you think USA would have gotten directly involved if this what that simple?? It's not. Regardless this can easily ripple down later on to WW3 which is what Zelensky seems to want

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