The US State Department on Monday characterized Russian President Vladimir Putin as "begging for assistance" ahead of a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
"I think it's fair to say that, having to travel across the length of his own country.. to meet with an international pariah to ask for assistance in a war that he expected to win in the opening month, I would characterize it as him begging for assistance," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters during a daily press briefing.
"Now we'll see there may be something that he offers in exchange, we'll see when it comes," he continued.
Miller pointed out that the visit is just coming after the Group of 20 Summit in New Delhi, saying that it was "largely because of his own international pariah status".
"We're going to monitor very closely the outcome of this meeting. I will remind both countries that any transfer of arms from North Korea to Russia would be in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions," Miller said
"We, of course, have aggressively enforced our sanctions against entities that fund Russia's war effort, and we will continue to enforce those sanctions and will not hesitate to impose new sanctions as appropriate," he cautioned.
Moscow and Pyongyang both confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be visiting Russia to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"At the invitation of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the Chairman of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Jong-un, will pay an official visit to the Russian Federation in the coming days," said a Kremlin statement.
Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency also confirmed the visit, without providing further details.
