Politics

Pyongyang receives Lavrov with warm welcome

Seoul, Oct 19 (EFE).- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was welcomed to North Korea with a guard of honor and a reception upon his arrival in Pyongyang following agreements made last month between the heads of both countries, North Korean state media reported on Thursday.

Lavrov was received by a guard of honor and North Korean citizens waving the flags of both countries in the rain on Wednesday night at Sunan airport in Pyongyang, according to photos published by KCNA.

The North Korean authorities then held a reception in Pyongyang for Lavrov, which was also attended by Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Ludenko and Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora, as well as North Korea’s Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and Vice Foreign Minister Im Chon-il.

Choe, with whom Lavrov is scheduled to meet Thursday, gave a welcome speech in which she expressed his expectations that bilateral relations will “would be expanded on a higher level according to the historic agreement reached by their top leaders” last month.

Lavrov then spoke and said that North Korea “is a genuine independent and sovereign state firmly defending its sovereignty and security, remaining unfazed by any pressure of the US and the West” and added that “Russia fully supports” the policies of leader Kim Jong-un and his regime.

He also stated that his visit “will serve as a significant occasion of bringing substantial results for the implementation of the agreement made at the Russia-DPRK summit meeting,” said KCNA, using an acronym for the official name of the Asian country.

Although the details of the summit between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome have not been made public, Moscow assured that it provided space for military and space cooperation between the two countries.

According to media outlets such as the New York Times, Kim could have agreed to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine with anti-tank missiles and artillery ammunition in exchange for food aid and satellite and nuclear-powered submarine technology, which Washington and Seoul have stressed would violate international sanctions.

The United States said on the 13th that North Korea has delivered to Russia by train and by ship more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munition to be used by Moscow in its war in Ukraine. EFE

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