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MOSCOW. – Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)will strive to strengthen good-neighbourly relations and promote regional peace, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday during his meeting with Kim Jong-un, top leader of the DPRK.

At the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur Oblast of Russia’s Far East, both sides had a meeting in an expanded format, which was attended by the two delegations and lasted about an hour and a half.

After the meeting, the leaders met one-on-one, and the two sides had lunch together.

The negotiations lasted nearly four hours. During the starting phase of the talks open to the press, which lasted just nine minutes, the leaders outlined the main issues on the agenda. According to Mr Kim, expanding relations with Moscow is Pyongyang’s top priority, particularly in the political sphere. The leaders then continued their dialogue behind closed doors.

The North Korean leader stated that Moscow can rely on Pyongyang’s political support in the current challenging geopolitical environment. At the same time, however, although the two countries’ defence ministers were participating in the negotiations, there was no open discussion of military-technical cooperation.

Mr Kim yesterday extended his visit to Russia, while Mr Putin also “gratefully” accepted an invitation from to visit North Korea, a Kremlin spokesperson said.

Kim was warmly received by Mr Putin at the Vostochny space centre on Wednesday in Russia’s far east – the North Korean leader spent two days travelling there in his private luxury bulletproof train.

Russian state media footage showed the two leaders smiling as they shook hands, before Mr Putin personally escorted Mr Kim around the space centre.

They also exchanged gifts, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Mr Putin gave Mr Kim a glove from a spacesuit “that had been in space several times” and a Russian-made rifle. Mr Kim gave Mr Putin a North Korean-made gun, among other gifts.

Mr Putin returned to Moscow after the summit, but Mr Kim’s visit would continue for several days, Mr Peskov added without elaborating further.

The North Korean leader was expected to oversee a display of Russian warships, as well as visit several factories and stop by the eastern city of Vladivostok on his way home.

Wednesday’s meeting between the two sanctioned regimes took place at a time when their relations with the West are at an all-time low.

The two leaders discussed military matters and the war in Ukraine during the summit – which Mr Kim appeared to express support for.

“Russia has risen to a sacred fight to protect its sovereignty and security against the hegemonic forces” of the West, Mr Kim said, telling Mr Putin he would “always support” his decisions.

Mr Putin also said he would help Pyongyang develop satellites, drawing concern in the US that Russian help with satellite technology would improve the North Korean missile programme.

“That is quite troubling and would potentially be in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions” which Russia itself had voted for in the past, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Wednesday.

Mr Putin appeared to acknowledge this, saying there were “there are certain limitations” to military co-operation.

The US has also warned that it would “not hesitate to take action” if North Korea provides weapons to Russia, to which the Kremlin had said that the interests of Russia and North Korea were important to them “and not warnings from Washington”.

According to Kazbek Taisaev, coordinator of the Russian State Duma’s Friendship Group with the DPRK parliament, Kim’s visit will help facilitate the implementation of many practical aspects of bilateral economic cooperation between the countries.

“We sincerely hope so. North Korea was closed during the pandemic, but now we have a large number of plans in terms of the economy, for example along the lines of developing cooperative industrial partnerships, as well as agricultural and cultural exchanges,” he told Izvestia.

Victoria Samsonova, director of the Center for Korean Studies at the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, expressed a similar view. Economic, scientific and technological cooperation has long been a priority for Russia and the DPRK, she said. – Agencies