Published: 16 Mar. 2025, 14:37
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko delivers a speech during a plenary session of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in Moscow on Oct. 24. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko delivers a speech during a plenary session of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in Moscow on Oct. 24. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui has met a senior Russian diplomat visiting Pyongyang, state media reported Sunday, amid talks for a cease-fire in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Choe met a Russian delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko on Saturday, a day after they arrived in the country, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Related Article
The KCNA said the talks were attended by North Korean foreign ministry officials and Russian Ambassador to North Korea Aleksandr Matsegora. It did not elaborate further on its details.
Rudenko also held separate talks with his North Korean counterpart, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong-gyu, on Saturday, and they reached a consensus on practical measures to strengthen bilateral cooperation in line with their comprehensive strategic partnership treaty signed last June, according to the KCNA.
Rudenko's visit to Pyongyang appears to be part of follow-up efforts for last year's treaty, which calls for mutual assistance if either is attacked. The two officials served as the government representatives for the treaty's ratification.
The talks also come after Ukraine agreed to a 30-day cease-fire proposed by the United States last week.
The Russian official may have discussed the proposal with his North Korean counterpart, considering Pyongyang's troop deployment in support of Russia's war efforts and North Korean prisoners of war held by Kyiv.
North Korea is estimated to have dispatched more than 10,000 troops to Russia's western front-line region of Kursk. Ukraine earlier unveiled that it captured two North Koreans from the region, with one of them expressing his intent to defect to South Korea.
Yonhap