Putin to visit North Korea after Kim trip to Russia, Kremlin confirms

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation from North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un to visit the country, the Kremlin confirmed Thursday.

"While interacting one-on-one, Kim Jong Un invited Putin to visit North Korea. Putin accepted the invitation with gratitude," spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to state media outlet Tass. "Everything will be further coordinated via diplomatic channels."

Kim visited Russia this week amid speculation that Moscow sought to procure military supplies from the heavily armed Hermit Kingdom to bolster its war effort in Ukraine. Kim declared on Wednesday that his country would support Russia that his "very first priority is relations with the Russian Federation."

"Now Russia has risen to a sacred struggle to defend its state sovereignty and protect its security in opposition to the hegemonic forces that oppose Russia," he went on. "We have always supported and support all decisions of President Putin, as well as decisions of the Russian Government. I also hope that we will always be together in the struggle against imperialism and for the construction of a sovereign state."

Peskov did not specify a timetable for a prospective Putin visit to North Korea, but stated that "a visit by Russian Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov to Pyongyang will now be quickly organized which, as we expect, will take place at some point in October."

The development comes as Russia appears to have largely thwarted the much-hyped Ukrainian counteroffensive, confining Kyiv's gains to a handful of villages in the nation's south and largely preserving its hold on the Crimean land bridge.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.