Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea on Tuesday and Wednesday, reports "Reuters". quoted by News.bg.
The extremely rare visit underscores Moscow's burgeoning partnership with the reclusive nuclear-armed state.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un extended an invitation to Putin during his visit to the Russian Far East in September last year. Putin has not visited Pyongyang since July 2000.
"At the invitation of North Korean State Affairs Chairman Kim Jong-un, Vladimir Putin will pay a friendly state visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on June 18-19", the Kremlin announced.
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After North Korea, Putin will also visit Vietnam on June 19-20, the president's press office added.
Russia has gone out of its way to publicize its resurgence in relations with North Korea since the start of the war in Ukraine, which has sparked the biggest crisis in Moscow's relations with the West in more than 60 years.
Putin claims that Russia is engaged in an existential battle with the West over Ukraine. "The Courtship" for Kim, allowing him to irritate Washington and its Asian allies while guaranteeing him a large supply of artillery for the war in Ukraine.
The United States and its allies claim that North Korea has supplied weapons to Russia to aid the front in Ukraine, although Pyongyang has repeatedly denied the claims as a fabrication by Western propagandists.