Chinese foreign minister visits Russia day after Kim Jong-un leaves country

China’s foreign minister will be in Russia this week for security talks just a day after North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un wrapped up his own visit to the country.

Wang Yi’s visit marks Russia’s second important diplomatic visit within a span of 10 days. Mr Kim’s visit was aimed at both the countries, isolated on the world stage, attempting to prop up their respective regimes.

Mr Kim toured Russia’s top-notch military and technology sites, including the country’s latest modern space rocket site Cosmodrome in the far east where he met Vladimir Putin.

His six-day visit to Russia alongside Mr Putin sparked widespread global concerns on weapon transfer talks between the two allies amid Russia’s Ukraine invasion.

The Chinese foreign minister’s Russia visit will begin on Monday, just two days after he wrapped a meet with the US’s national security adviser, and go on up to Thursday, officials said.

The visit will be for a strategic security consultation between China and Russia, both allies, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday.

Mr Wang, also the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s top foreign policy official, was in Malta over the weekend where he discussed the war in Ukraine with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

The two sides dubbed the diplomatic talks as candid, substantive and constructive.

Both nations, that have had bilateral tensions plummet due to multiple conflicts in Europe and East Asia, are looking to stabilise their rocky relationship.

China and the US disagree on their stance over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the former has shifted closer to Russia because both nations have had a mutual deterioration of ties with Washington.

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Beijing maintains the West has to consider Russia’s security concerns about Nato’s expansion in Europe despite respect for the territorial control of a country.

China has also accused the US of prolonging fighting in Ukraine as it has aided the nation with arms and weaponry which the Joe Biden administration has repeatedly said to be necessary to stop Russian aggression.

Russia could be looking to get weapons help from North Korea, experts have said, pointing out that Mr Kim’s authoritarian regime is likely sitting on tens of millions of ageing artillery shells and rockets based on Soviet designs that could significantly aid Russian forces.

In return, Moscow can help North Korea with economic and food aid, alongside transferring technologies to build powerful missiles, a nuclear-propelled submarine and a spy satellite.

The leader of the isolated country broke his self-imposed four-year diplomatic lockdown by visiting Mr Putin last week. He said North Korea would offer its “full and unconditional support” for Russia’s fight to defend its security interest, in an indirect reference to the continuing war in Ukraine, despite the West’s warnings against doing so.

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