The White House said on Friday that North Korea has delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia for its ongoing war in Ukraine.
Speculation about a possible North Korean plan to refill Russia’s munition stores drained in its protracted war with Ukraine flared last month, when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travelled to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military sites.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the US believes Kim is seeking sophisticated Russian weapons technologies in return for the munitions to boost North Korea’s nuclear programme.
The White House released images that it said show the containers were loaded onto a Russian-flagged ship before being moved by train to southwestern Russia.
The containers were shipped between September 7 and October 1 between Najin, North Korea, and Dunay, Russia, according to the White House.
The Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, last week published satellite photos that showed a sharp increase in rail traffic along the North Korea-Russia border.
It said images show approximately 73 railcars while a review of previous satellite images over the past five years shows about 20 railcars at this facility at most.
The US has accused North Korea of previously providing ammunition, artillery shells and rockets to Russia.
Mr Kim last month, after he had met Mr Putin, called for an exponential increase in production of nuclear weapons and for his country to play a larger role in a coalition of nations confronting the US in a “new Cold War”, North Korean state media said.
The Korean Central News Agency said Mr Kim made the comments during a two-day session of the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, which amended the constitution to include his policy of expanding the country’s nuclear weapons programme.
In Russia, Mr Kim deepened “comradely fellowship and friendly ties” with Mr Putin, North Korean state media reported.
During Mr Kim’s six-day trip to Russia, his longest foreign travel as leader, the two countries said they discussed boosting their defence ties but did not disclose any specific steps.
Foreign experts speculate the two countries, both locked in confrontations with the West, were pushing to reach arms transfer deals in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Antony Blinken, who is in the Middle East to consult with allies in the aftermath of last week’s Hamas attack on Israel, spoke by phone on Friday to Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba.
The two leaders discussed the latest battlefield developments, according to the State Department.
