(LONDON) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived on a state visit to Pyongyang, and was met at the airport by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
In the history of bilateral relations between Russia and North Korea, this is just the second visit by the head of the Russian state. Putin also made the first visit by a Russian leader to Pyongyang in 2000.
Putin will spend two days in North Korea before traveling to Vietnam, the Kremlin said. The diplomatic trip follows Kim’s visit to Russia in September 2023.
Kim, during that visit, had “cordially” invited Putin to visit North Korea at a “convenient time,” the Korean Central News Agency, a state-run media outlet, reported at the time.
Putin had accepted with “pleasure and reaffirmed his will to invariably carry forward the history” of friendship between the nations, the outlet said.
Negotiations are planned on Wednesday in various formats.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
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