Top stories
Vladimir Putin gifted luxury Russian-made car to North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un (PHOTOS)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has given North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a luxury Russian-made car.
Pyongyang’s state media said the limousine was delivered to Mr Kim’s top aides on Sunday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later confirmed the gift, saying it was an Aurus, a full-sized luxury sedan of the type used by Mr Putin himself.
The two internationally isolated countries have forged close relations since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
North Korea is thought to be supplying Russia with artillery, rockets and ballistic missiles for the war, despite international sanctions on both countries. Both sides deny breaching sanctions.
Mr Putin welcomed Mr Kim to the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East last September, in what was his first trip abroad in four years.
During that visit, the North Korean leader inspected Mr Putin’s own Aurus Senat limousine and was invited to get in the back seat. They also swapped guns as gifts.
Kim Jong-un is believed to be a car enthusiast and to have a collection of luxury foreign vehicles.
Kim’s sister Yo Jong said the “gift serves as a clear demonstration of the special personal relations between the top leaders” of the two countries, in remarks quoted by North Korean state news agency KCNA.
But South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the gift breached UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea, which prohibit supplies of certain categories of vehicle including luxury cars.
Kim and Putin go public – but is it all a show?
Putin and Kim: Friends in need (of ammunition)
Inside Kim Jong Un’s luxury bulletproof train
The BBC’s Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says that while the two leaders’ personal relationship is hardly a bromance – unlike that between Mr Kim and former US President Donald Trump – they both see the benefits of closer ties.
Both Russia and North Korea have indicated that Mr Putin will visit Pyongyang in the near future.
AMUR REGION, RUSSIA – SEPTEMBER 13: (—-EDITORIAL USE ONLY – MANDATORY CREDIT – ‘KREMLIN PRESS OFFICE / HANDOUT’ – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS—-) North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un arrives the Russian spaceport Vostochny Cosmodrome to inspect with Russian President Vladimir Putin (not seen) in Russia’s Amur region in the Far East on September 13, 2023. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said on Wednesday that relations with Russia are ‘the very first priority’ for his country. Putin and Kim then visited several facilities of the cosmodrome and also examined the construction of the new infrastructure. (Photo by Kremlin Press Office / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
AMUR REGION, RUSSIA – SEPTEMBER 13: (—-EDITORIAL USE ONLY – MANDATORY CREDIT – ‘KREMLIN PRESS OFFICE / HANDOUT’ – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS—-) North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un arrives the Russian spaceport Vostochny Cosmodrome to inspect with Russian President Vladimir Putin (not seen) in Russia’s Amur region in the Far East on September 13, 2023. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said on Wednesday that relations with Russia are ‘the very first priority’ for his country. Putin and Kim then visited several facilities of the cosmodrome and also examined the construction of the new infrastructure. (Photo by Kremlin Press Office / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Contact: info@royalnews.com.ng