Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a news conference following talks with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Moscow, Russia, October 9, 2023.
Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSEOUL, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to arrive in Pyongyang on Wednesday for meetings seen as setting the stage for a visit by President Vladimir Putin, who has stepped up cooperation with politically isolated North Korea.
Russia's TASS news agency reported that Lavrov may brief the North Koreans on the results of Putin's visit to China, as well as discuss the standing invitation to visit Pyongyang.
U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim on Tuesday called relations between North Korea and Russia "worrying," after the White House said last week Pyongyang recently provided Russia with weapons.
The two ships had moved several hundred containers to and from a port in North Korea since August, the RUSI report said.
Persons:
Sergei Lavrov, General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Sergei Ilnitsky, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Putin, Lavrov, North Korea Sung Kim, Dmitry Peskov, Josh Smith, Lidia Kelly, Gerry Doyle
Organizations:
Russian, Arab League, Rights, North, Russia's TASS, Special, U.S, Kremlin, Royal United Services Institute, United Nations, Thomson
Locations:
Moscow, Russia, Rights SEOUL, Pyongyang, North Korea, Ukraine, Koreans, China, U.S, Korean, Melbourne