Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly trying to get more weapons for the war in
00:04 Ukraine from North Korea, and this despite a warning from the U.S. not to do so.
00:09 Putin met with North Korea's Kim Jong-un for two hours today in the eastern Russian
00:14 city of Vladivostok.
00:16 Putin and Kim first held talks with their delegations before holding one-on-one negotiations
00:21 together.
00:22 Well, to get a bit more analysis, let's bring in our international affairs editor,
00:25 Philip Turrell.
00:26 Philip, there are growing suspicions that North Korea is about to provide these weapons
00:29 to Russia.
00:31 The pictures that we see make it seem like the two men are quite close, good allies.
00:35 Is that really the case?
00:36 Well, let's put it this way, shall we?
00:38 I think there's as much symbolism in all of this as there is going to be exchanges for
00:44 weapons on the side of Russia and food and support on the side of North Korea.
00:49 But if you look back over recent decades, it's not been one big love story between the
00:53 two countries and even the former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree
01:00 back in 2010 stepping up sanctions against North Korea to try to curtail its bid to obtain
01:06 nuclear weapons.
01:07 So I think many observers are saying this is a sign of two things, desperation on the
01:14 side of Russia and hope on the side of North Korea that they will obtain something from
01:19 Russia in exchange for giving them weapons.
01:21 The big problem for the Russian President Vladimir Putin is that if he does go ahead
01:27 and obtain munitions from North Korea, that will be in flagrant violation of the UN Security
01:34 Council and resolutions imposing sanctions on North Korea, which Russia has actually
01:38 signed.
01:39 So it's not going to be easy.
01:41 So symbolically, this is good for both men.
01:44 It shows that Russia has an ally in the region that he can depend on, even if he's a pariah
01:52 looked at that way by the international community.
01:55 And North Korea has an ally in Russia with which it hopes to obtain more technology,
02:01 more spyware, more satellites and increased know-how.
02:06 Big question here is, well, how much is Russia going to give North Korea?
02:10 Russia's very cagey about handing over its information when it comes down to its technology
02:17 that it's very jealously guarding.
02:19 I think Russia sees this as maybe a short-term relief for its war effort in Ukraine, providing
02:25 weapons, Soviet era weapons to Russia by the North Koreans, which will help it in its war
02:33 effort in Ukraine and make it into more of a war of attrition and maybe bring the West
02:37 to the negotiating table.
02:38 But I don't really think it's much more than that at this time being.
02:42 So a lot of show, a lot of pomp and circumstance, a lot of backslapping and congratulations
02:48 and solidarity between the two leaders.
02:49 But I think you have to scratch the surface a bit to actually see what is going on behind
02:53 the scenes.
02:54 And what about from an international perspective?
02:56 There's been a warning, of course, from the U.S., not only for North Korea, but also for
02:59 the Russians not to break a U.N. sanctions.
03:02 Well that is true.
03:03 And I think that's putting Russia in a bit of a dilemma because it doesn't want to be
03:06 seen itself as an international pariah.
03:08 It still has obligations towards the international community.
03:11 And although there is a war in Ukraine, it still needs the support, for example, would
03:15 like the support of China, has friendly relationships, if you can call it that, with India, which
03:21 hasn't condemned the war in Ukraine yet.
03:22 But if it were to go a step further and start violating the U.N. Security Council and resolutions
03:28 that it signed itself, that may make a lot of countries that are turning a blind eye
03:32 towards this conflict in Ukraine rather reluctant to support Russia.
03:36 And that is something that Russia really doesn't want right now.
03:39 So it's difficult to see what the maneuvering tactics of the Russians will be in all of
03:45 this.
03:46 Either Vladimir Putin is going to say, right, well, I don't care about the U.N. Security
03:49 Council.
03:50 This is a war.
03:51 And I'm fighting for the rights of the Russian people against the imperialist West and in
03:58 particularly the United States.
03:59 I found as an ally in the form of the North Korean President Kim Jong-un, who is also
04:06 against the United States.
04:07 We have a common front there.
04:08 We're also fighting against South Korea, trying to stop it from providing weapons to Ukraine
04:13 as well.
04:14 So all of those different factors put together may mean that Vladimir Putin might turn a
04:18 blind eye to this, but it's not going to be easy for him.
04:21 And the question still remains, what is North Korea going to get out of this?
04:24 It desperately needs money.
04:25 It desperately needs food aid.
04:26 It desperately needs food full stop.
04:29 Maybe there will be some advances on that front, but it'd be interesting to see how
04:32 this all unwinds over the next few days.