White House comments on Putin's visit to Kim Jong Un: Russia is gathering a coalition
The White House considers the official visit of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang and the signing of a strategic partnership agreement with his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un as an "expansion of partnership," said Michael Carpenter, Director for European Affairs of the White House National Security Council, Ukrinform reports.
"Regarding the meeting between Putin and Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang and all the pomp and pageantry that reflects the totalitarian nature of the regime in North Korea, it is clear that it is about expanding the partnership," he stated.
Carpenter argues that this also shows where Russia is on the world stage.
He noted that the closest partners of the Russian Federation are North Korea, Iran, Syria and "to a certain extent" China, "although it does not provide Russia with weapons, but sends a lot of dual-use products for the production of advanced weapons systems."
According to the official, it includes, in particular, nitrocellulose for the production of gunpowder, optics, and machines for the Russian military industry. This increases the threat to the security of Ukraine and Europe in general, he noted.
"This, in a broad sense, is a coalition that Russia is gathering," the representative of the White House concluded and offered to compare it with the coalition of 50 countries in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group and with approximately 100 countries that "supported the principles of the UN Charter in Switzerland." .
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps believes that the "bizarre" scenes of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea should be taken as a "warning".
Since the evening of June 18, Putin was on a visit to the DPRK. Both dictators signed an agreement on "comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries".
Servant of the People MP, head of the Verkhovna Rada's committee on foreign policy Oleksandr Merezhko told LIGA.net that this, in fact, does not change anything for Ukraine.
The US permanent representative to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that while world leaders were discussing ways to help Ukraine, the Russian dictator was preparing to discuss military weapons with his North Korean "colleague".