BRISBANE, Australia: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Saturday said that the United States believes Russia’s defence minister is in North Korea to secure weapon supplies to resume the stalled invasion of Ukraine.
Blinken said, following Sergei Shoigu’s arrival on a rare trip to Pyongyang, that Russia is scrambling to buy arms from allies across the globe. “I strongly doubt he’s there on holiday,” Blinken told reporters in Australia.
“We’re seeing Russia desperately looking for support, for weapons, wherever it can find them to continue to prosecute its aggression against Ukraine,” he said.
“We see that in North Korea, we see that as well with Iran, which has provided many drones to Russia that it’s using to destroy civilian infrastructure and killed civilians in Ukraine.”
While in North Korea, Shoigu met the country’s leader Kim Jong Un, in what Pyongyang’s state media described as “a friendly talk.”
Russia, a historic ally of North Korea, is one of a handful of nations with which Pyongyang maintains friendly relations. —AFP/APP
