'We are ready to confront the ambition of the West'

Putin in North Korea for first visit to the country in 24 years

- SHWETA SHARMA

Vladimir Putin arrived in North Korea yesterday, the Kremlin said, heightening Western concerns about deepening military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. The Russian president’s “friendly state visit” yesterday and today is his first trip to the neighbouring country in 24 years.

Mr Putin met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang at dawn (North Korea time) at the airport, their second meeting in less than nine months. The pair then rode in the same limousine and walked together into Mr Putin’s hotel.

Mr Putin vowed to deepen trade and security ties with the reclusive nuclear-armed state and to support it against the United States.

The meeting between the two leaders demonstrates “invincibility and durability” of friendship and unity between North Korea and Russia, according to state news agency KCNA.

North Korea-Russia relations have “emerged as a strong strategic fortress for preserving international justice, peace and security and an engine for accelerating the building of a new multi-polar world,” the report on KCNA added.