ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – Moscow’s security partnerships with Beijing, Pyongyang and other US “adversaries” were not anticipated by Washington, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing anonymous intelligence sources.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a strategic partnership and mutual defense treaty with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on Wednesday, before flying on to Vietnam. Putin’s trip to China last month prompted one US policymaker to declare that decades of American efforts to keep Moscow and Beijing apart have come to naught.
“The speed and depth of the expanding security ties involving the US adversaries has at times surprised American intelligence analysts. Russia and the other nations have set aside historic frictions to collectively counter what they regard as a US-dominated global system, they said,” the WSJ reported on Wednesday.
Washington has accused Pyongyang of “sending workers to Russia to help man weapons production lines,” as well as selling missiles and artillery shells to Moscow, for use against Ukraine.
The US also believes China has enabled Russia’s military industry to circumvent Western sanctions, by delivering “massive quantities of dual-use equipment, including machine tools, microelectronics … optics for tanks and armored vehicles, and turbo engines for cruise missiles,” according to the Journal’s sources. They also alleged that China has helped Russia “improve its satellite and other space-based capabilities for use in Ukraine.”
Beijing has rejected US allegations, called the sanctions unilateral and illegitimate, and accused Washington of hypocrisy for fueling the conflict by arming and supplying Kiev.
Iran has become “Russia’s primary weapons supplier,” unnamed Pentagon officials told the Journal, accusing Tehran of helping build a factory in Tatarstan Region capable of making Shahed-136 drones by the thousands.
Russia’s “expanded security ties” with the DPRK, China and Iran don’t amount to a NATO-like military alliance but appear to be “a series of bilateral exchanges,” anonymous Americans told the Journal. The technology transfers involved risk improving the long-term capabilities of all countries involved, thereby threatening the US, they added.
Earlier this month, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin announced that Russia’s strategy of economic relations with the ‘Global South’ would involve partnerships based on “technology and competency transfers rather than market control.”
Moscow has also signaled it would turn to the ‘Global South’, which has been alienated by the West’s behavior in the Ukraine conflict. The attempts by the US and its allies to isolate Russia have suffered a “complete failure,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in February.
Bilateral agreements Russia and North Korea
Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a state visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on Wednesday, where he met with the country’s leader Kim Jong-un and participated in comprehensive bilateral talks on economic, security, and global issues.
The trip marked the first time the Russian president had traveled to North Korea since first taking office in 2000, when he visited Pyongyang to meet with then-leader Kim Jong-il.
Putin’s delegation included Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, Transport Minister Roman Starovoyt, and several other senior officials, including Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Putin’s foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov.
Grand reception in Pyongyang
Putin touched down in the North Korean capital in the early hours of Wednesday and was greeted by Kim Jong-un at the airport. Ahead of his arrival, the streets of Pyongyang were decked out with countless Russian flags, alternating with DPRK flags. Multiple banners were also placed along the route of the presidential motorcade, featuring greetings in Russian and Korean, and portraits of the Russian head of state.
A ceremony was also held in honor of Putin’s arrival on Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang. The event featured a performance by a DPRK military orchestra, as hundreds of residents packed the square for the occasion.
Aside from formal negotiations and signing official documents, Putin exchanged gifts with Kim, attended a gala concert, laid flowers at a monument to Soviet soldiers who helped liberate Korea from Japan during World War II, and took part in a reception in honor of the Russian delegation’s visit.
Negotiations
Talks between Kim Jong-un and Putin, which involved the countries’ delegations, lasted for an hour and a half, and were followed by a one-on-one discussion between the two leaders.
During the meeting, both sides expressed appreciation for each other’s support. The Russian leader noted that relations between the two nations are rooted in history, and based on the principles of “equality and mutual respect of each other’s interests.”
Kim stated that North Korea sees Russia as “the most honest friend and comrade” and noted Russia’s mission and role in “upholding strategic stability and balance in the world.” He also expressed Pyongyang’s support for Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.
Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty
Following the bilateral negotiations, Putin and Kim signed a Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, designed to “lay the groundwork” for future bilateral relations in all spheres, including cultural and tourist ties, trade, economic relations and security.
The agreement also includes a pledge by Russia and the DPRK to assist each other in case of foreign aggression, as both leaders decried attempts by the US and its satellites to destabilize the situation in Southeast Asia.
Putin emphasized Pyongyang’s right to take “reasonable steps” to ensure its security and protect its sovereignty, and vowed to engage in political and diplomatic efforts to prevent a new armed conflict on the Korean peninsula.
He also denounced the “indefinite restrictions regime” imposed on Pyongyang by the UN Security Council and urged for it to be revised.
Kim described the new agreement as a “peaceful and defensive” document that “provides for maintaining peace and stability in the region.” He added that the treaty promotes the common interests of Russia and the DPRK, and expressed confidence that it would become “a driving force in accelerating the creation of a new multipolar world.” (RT/AT Network)
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