“We have the right” to talk to Pyongyang. Russia fires against the West

A Spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, defended, on Sunday, that the country “has the right” to maintain dialogue with North Korea, leaving criticism of the West.

This position was shared as part of a three-day visit by the North Korean Foreign Minister to Russia, which begins this Monday. Although Choe Son-hui’s visit was confirmed, few details about it were shared.

“Firstly, there will be talks. Secondly, naturally, there will be a lot of speculation. The West continues to say that Russia is behaving wrongly and that it has no right to communicate with North Korea,” Zakharova said. in an interview with the program Voskresny Vecher, on Rossiya-1, cited by the Russian state agency TASS.

“We have the right to do what we consider appropriate, taking into account the fact that we always declare respect for international law”, he defended. “We are not violating anything. We are developing relationships with our partners in various spheres”, he added.

It is recalled that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited North Korea in October, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Choe’s visit comes after new evidence was revealed that North Korea and Russia agreed to cooperate militarily during a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in September , and which includes the transfer of weapons from Pyongyang to Moscow, in violation of sanctions imposed by the UN on the Asian country.

Last week, the White House said Russia recently fired North Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine, adding to those already used in the December 30 and January 2 attacks. But Pyongyang and Moscow deny this arms transfer.

In return, Kim Jong-un’s regime is believed to have received Russian technical assistance in launching the first military reconnaissance satellite last November.

South Korea estimates that the number of containers – loaded with ballistic missiles, launchers and hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds – transferred from North Korea to Russia since the summer now exceeds 5,000.

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