Accepting Kim Jong Un’s invitation to visit North Korea has increased the high-level exchanges between North Korea and Russia.
As the official confirmation of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China this year has been made, attention is also being drawn to the possibility of his visit to North Korea.
According to Yonhap News on the 10th, the Russian Foreign Ministry revealed Putin’s plan to visit China this year in a commentary on the official visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to China on the 9th (local time).
The Russian Foreign Ministry explained that, regarding Lavrov’s visit to China, “President Xi welcomed Minister Lavrov’s visit to China as an important step in the comprehensive preparation for President Putin’s state visit to China this year.”
Xi then highly evaluated the relationship between Russia and China, expressing readiness further to develop a comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation relationship.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, also said in a briefing that day, “Minister Lavrov’s visit to China can be seen as a preparation for upcoming high-level contacts,” and “such contacts are planned.”
He added, “Considering the high level of friendly relations between Russia and China, high-level contacts are understood to be reasonable and necessary,” but explained that it is still too early to disclose the specific schedule for Putin’s visit to China.
Reuters reported last month, citing a related source, that President Putin will visit China in May and meet with President Xi.
Putin’s inauguration is scheduled for May 7, so China is expected to be the first overseas destination of his new term.
Putin and Xi met directly twice last year. In March, Xi visited Russia as a state guest, and in October, Putin attended the One Belt, One Road summit held in Beijing.
Lavrov, who visited China for two days the previous day, met with Wang Yi, the head of the Central Foreign Affairs Office of the Communist Party of China (also serving as Foreign Minister), and discussed the issue of a summit between China and Russia on the occasion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in June and the BRICS summit in October.
There are also forecasts that Putin may visit North Korea this year.
Earlier, in September last year, after a summit with Kim Jong Un in the Russian Far East, he accepted Kim’s invitation to visit North Korea.
Putin also expressed his willingness to visit North Korea early on to Choe Son Hui, the North Korean Foreign Minister, who officially visited Russia in January.
As Putin’s visit to China is mentioned first, it is expected that the schedule for visiting North Korea will also be specified after visiting China. There is a possibility that the visit to close China and North Korea geographically will be linked to show the bond between North Korea, China, and Russia.
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