TRAIN OF DEATH

Kim Jong Un Arrives in Russia for Arms Summit With Vladimir Putin

The North Korean dictator will be asked to boost supplies of artillery and missiles from his country’s vast arsenal.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un crossed over into Russia on his luxury armored train early Tuesday for a secretive arms summit with President Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader will use the meeting in the eastern port city of Vladivostok to press for North Korea to open up supplies of artillery ammunition and anti-tank missiles from its vast Soviet-era arsenal to rescue Putin’s flagging invasion of Ukraine. Kim, for his part, is expected to demand better access to Russian satellite and military technology, as well as exports of cheap Russian food and energy. Kim’s arrival in Russia was reported by Russian state television, which aired footage of Kim’s olive-green train—reportedly formed of 20 armored cars plus dozens of extra wagons for security purposes—trundling over the Tumen river that forms the narrow border between the two countries. The U.S. and other Western powers have raised the alarm at signs of increased military cooperation between Kim and Putin, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said their warnings were irrelevant. “As you know, while implementing our relations with our neighbours, including North Korea, the interests of our two countries are important to us, and not warnings from Washington,” Reuters quoted him as saying.