MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s high diplomat shrugged off U.S. claims that North Korea transferred munitions to Russia, saying Washington has didn’t show the allegation.
Russian state tv broadcast Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov’s feedback on Friday. Lavrov made a two-day journey to Pyongyang this week for talks on methods to spice up the 2 nations’ ties following a September summit between North Korean chief Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The White Home mentioned final week that North Korea had delivered greater than 1,000 containers of army gear and weapons to Russia. It launched pictures that it mentioned confirmed the containers have been loaded onto a Russian-flagged ship earlier than being moved through prepare to southwestern Russia.
White Home Nationwide Safety Council spokesman John Kirby mentioned the U.S. believes Kim is in search of subtle Russian weapons applied sciences in return for the munitions to spice up North Korea’s army and nuclear program.
Lavrov scoffed on the U.S. claims, saying that “the People maintain accusing everybody.”
“I don’t touch upon rumors,” he added.
Since final yr, the U.S. has accused North Korea of offering ammunition, artillery shells and rockets to Russia for the preventing in Ukraine. North Korea has steadfastly denied it shipped arms to Russia. South Korean officers charged that weapons North Korean supplied already have been utilized in Ukraine.
When Kim visited Russia for six days final month, a visit that included assembly with Putin, Russian and North Korean officers mentioned that boosting protection ties between the 2 nations was mentioned however they didn’t disclose any particular steps.
On Thursday, Lavrov and Kim exchanged views on joint efforts to develop bilateral ties in all areas and mentioned different key problems with mutual concern, the North’s official Korean Central Information Company reported. It mentioned Kim expressed his resolve to hold out unspecified agreements he reached with Putin.
Lavrov described the talks as “complete” and mentioned, “We now have an understanding on the right way to proceed to satisfy the agreements” between Putin and Kim.
After he arrived in Pyongyang, Lavrov gave a speech during which he mentioned that Russia deeply valued North Korea’s “unwavering and principled help” for its army operation in Ukraine. Again in Moscow, he harassed that the hassle to deepen the connection between Russia and North Korea was primarily based on bilateral issues.
“Our friendship isn’t directed towards anybody. It’s supposed to assist promote mutually useful tasks,” he mentioned.
Lavrov additionally instructed reporters that he helps holding common talks on safety points on the Korean Peninsula with North Korea and China.
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