“I highly doubt he went on vacation.” That was the response of the United States Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkenwhen asked in Washington whether he believed the presence of the Russian defense minister, Sergey Shoiguin North Korea this week locked up a potential arms purchase deal.
“We are seeing Russia desperately seeking support to get weapons wherever it can get them and continue its aggression against Ukraine», added Blinken in statements collected by Guardian.
Shoigu went to Pyongyang last Wednesday to participate in the commemorative events of the 70th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean war.
On his visit to North KoreaThe Russian Defense Minister inspected a hangar where nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles and surveillance and attack drones developed from US models were stored.
The next day he attended along with the North Korean leader, kim jong unto the commemorative parade of the end of the Korean War.
The North Korean news agency reported that Minister Shoigu and Kim Jong-un reached a military cooperation agreement, which, according to analysts, could entail a agreement for Russia to buy weapons from North Korea.
Russia’s goal is to seek new arms markets to partly relieve their depleted arsenals due to the wear and tear suffered in the war in Ukraine.
It’s about the same strategy followed with Irana country from which Russia bought a large consignment of suicide drones shahed 136 which he used to bomb Ukrainian cities.
He Ministry of Defense of Ukraine He supported suspicions in this regard by reporting that, among the weapons captured from the Russian forces defeated on the battlefield, the Ukrainian Army seized munitions from Iran, but also from North Korea.
USA repeatedly accused North Korea of supplying Russia with weapons by sea shipments for use in Ukraine.
White House analysts believe that with his visit to North KoreaShoigu aims to increase collaboration with Kim Jong-un’s communist regime and gain access to more sophisticated weapons from the North Korean arsenal.
