Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un hold secret tete-a-tete talks at cosmodrome

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed confidence in the victory of the army and people of Russia, TASS reports.

"We are confident that the Russian army and the people [of the Russian Federation] will certainly win a great victory in the sacred struggle to punish the congregation of evil that claims hegemony and nourishes expansionist illusions, in the struggle to create a stable environment for development,” Kim said during his meeting with Russian President Putin on September 13.

The DPRK Chairman also noted that he discussed strategic and tactical cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang with Putin.

According to the North Korean leader, his visit to Russia will mark an important stage in transforming relations between the Russian Federation and the DPRK into "an unbreakable relationship of strategic cooperation.”

Putin and Kim meet at cosmodrome

Putin and Kim Jong-un spoke as part of delegations and then they held a one-on-one meeting. The talks took place at the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur region of Russia. After the conversation, Putin gave an official dinner in honour of Kim Jong-un.

No details have been disclosed about the personal meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the DPRK Kim Jong-un.

Kim's armoured train crossed the railway bridge over the Razdolnaya River in the Primorsky Territory on September 12 at 05:15 Moscow time.

The Kremlin earlier said that the Russian and North Korean leaders would discuss bilateral relations and international affairs. He did not specify what issues would be on the agenda of the talks.

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that one of the topics could be the Hassan-Rajin project. It was restored from 2008 to 2014 as a pilot phase for the reconstruction of the Trans-Korean Railway and is now used to transit Russian coal for further deliveries to foreign buyers.

In addition, Putin and Kim could also discuss questions of humanitarian assistance to North Korea. The economy of the DPRK has been severely weakened by international sanctions and lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Since many representatives of our government are going to be there, one shall assume that a complex of issues is going to be discussed," Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said.

US concerned about Kim's visit to Russia

Washington is closely watching Kim Jong-un's visit to Russia. Western media have reported recently that Russia is allegedly purchasing ammunition from North Korea for their further use in the conflict in Ukraine.

Both Pyongyang and Moscow denied the supplies of North Korean ammunition. Russia's Ambassador to the DPRK Alexander Matsegora said that Pyongyang was not supplying any shells to Moscow because it was in a "pre-war situation” itself.

The New York Times, which first reported about Kim's upcoming visit to Russia, said that ammunition supplies could become a key topic of negotiations between the two leaders. The North Korean delegation included the director of the DPRK Department of Ammunition Production, Cho Chun Ren, Reuters said.

Kim Jong-un's visit to Russia became his first foreign trip in four years. North Korea was completely isolated from the outside world due to the COVID-19 pandemic.