SEOUL, March 16 (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 ceasefire 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).
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 ceasefire 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.
A Russian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko (L) arrives in Pyongyang on March 14, 2025, in this photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
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