It must be somebody pretty important in your life to warrant a personal airport pickup at 3 a.m. But that's the honor North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un paid to Vladimir Putin on Wednesday morning, greeting the Russian President on a red carpet-laid runway in the wee hours and then riding with him through Pyongyang streets festooned with roses and murals of his stout, balding guest, whom Kim had earlier hailed as an invincible comrade-in-arms.
Twenty-four years on and Putin's return to the Hermit Kingdom comes as he's embroiled in Europe's deadliest land conflict since World War II and the younger Kim wields a nuclear arsenal capable of threatening the continental U.S. The Kremlin described the trip as a friendly state visit, though the prospect of the two leaders inking partnerships on security, food, energy, and foreign currency prompted the White House to express concern about the deepening relationship.
Certainly, ties between these two pariahs are stronger than any point since the fall of the Soviet Union. In a letter published in Rodong Sinmun, mouthpiece of North Korea's ruling Workers Party, Putin promised to develop trade and security systems with Pyongyang that are not controlled by the West, while promising to help his host stave off U.S. pressure, blackmail and military threats.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy aide, told Russia's Tass news agency that the meeting could result in a comprehensive strategic partnership.
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