Putin does not rule out sending weapons to North Korea and the United States is 'incredibly' concerned

The United States has expressed deep unease over Putin's threat to send weapons to Pyongyang, warning that such action could destabilize the Korean Peninsula.

“It’s incredibly concerning,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

“This would potentially destabilize the Korean Peninsula, depending on the type of weapons, and could violate UN Security Council resolutions that Russia itself has supported.”

Pact with Vietnam

Russia and Vietnam, a close ally of Moscow since the Cold War, pledged to deepen ties during Putin's state visit aimed at strengthening their alliances.

The Russian leader did not receive as clear a statement of support in Hanoi as he did in Pyongyang, where he received an enthusiastic welcome. But Vietnamese President To Lam has indicated his desire to strengthen defense cooperation.

Russia has been Vietnam's main arms supplier for decades, but orders have fallen in recent years due to intensifying international sanctions linked to the Ukraine conflict.

The two sides said in a joint statement that their defense and security cooperation was “not directed against any third country” and contributed to “peace, stability and sustainable development” in the region.

Putin told reporters that the negotiations had been constructive and that the two sides had “the same or very close” positions on key international issues.

Putin then spoke with Nguyen Phu Trong, the powerful general secretary of the ruling Communist Party, and laid a wreath at the memorial of independence leader Ho Chi Minh.

Mobilize support

Putin's Asian tour came as the United States, Britain and the European Union all announced new sanctions aimed at limiting Russia's war in Ukraine.

The G7 has meanwhile agreed to use profits from frozen Russian assets to provide a new $50 billion loan to kyiv.

Making his first visit to isolated North Korea in 24 years on Wednesday, Putin signed a strategic treaty with leader Kim Jong Un that included a pledge to come to each other's aid in the event of an attack.

Washington and its allies accuse North Korea of ​​supplying munitions and missiles to Russia for its war, and the new treaty has fueled fears of additional deliveries.

The two countries have been allies since North Korea's founding after World War II and have grown even closer since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine isolated Putin on the world stage.

Kim pledged his “full support and solidarity” over the war in Ukraine, which also triggered a series of United Nations sanctions against Moscow.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Putin's trip was a visit to “yesterday's satellites of the USSR” in search of “military and technical aid and cannon fodder “.

His welcome was in Vietnam, a major global manufacturing hub that has carefully hedged its foreign policy position for years, seeking to be friends with everyone but beholden to no one.

He has particularly sought to avoid choosing sides in the growing rivalry between the United States and China, as the two superpowers seek to increase their influence in Southeast Asia.

US President Joe Biden visited Hanoi in September to promote ties as his administration seeks to establish Vietnam as an alternative supplier of key high-tech components to reduce US dependence on China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping followed suit, making his own state visit just three months later.