Lancaster (UK), Sep 17 (The Conversation) Russia is planning to buy “millions” of Soviet-era weapons from North Korea, a recent US intelligence report has revealed. Britain’s defense intelligence has also confirmed that Russia is already using Iran-made drones in Ukraine.
The revelations came after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held diplomatic talks to celebrate North Korea’s Liberation Day on August 15. The two leaders have proposed new strategic and strategic cooperation and emphasized the tradition of friendship between them.
Just a few days ago, Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi and also promised to send a major business delegation to Iran. He also promised to do everything possible to make Iran a full-time member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
This political and security alliance includes Russia, China, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.
Russia has been isolated from the West after invading Ukraine, after which it is pushing to improve its cooperation with autocratic countries, especially North Korea and Iran. China could also be involved in this alliance and this could pose a real threat to Western countries in the coming years.
Moscow has had close diplomatic ties with Pyongyang during the Cold War and the Soviet Union has been one of North Korea’s most important economic partners. This relationship changed dramatically in 1991 when the Soviet Union disintegrated. Russia ceased to be a communist country and its focus shifted to building positive relations with Western democracies.
He gave priority to economic relations rather than ideological relations and started increasing closeness with America and South Korea. This strained its relations with Pyongyang and North Korea focused on building closer ties with China.
Isolation of North Korea:
When Putin came to power in 2000, Russia tried to restart diplomatic relations with North Korea. Kim Jong-un’s father Kim Jong-il also went to Russia on some occasions.
However, the relationship soured due to Russia’s deeply pragmatic approach to foreign policy. The Kremlin continued to condemn Pyongyang’s nuclear program in order to maintain friendly relations with the West.
However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has given it an opportunity to improve relations between the two countries after it was isolated economically and politically.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, North Korea has become largely dependent on Beijing for trade and energy. But even this relationship is not free from political tensions. China’s main objective in the Korean Peninsula is to prevent the fall of North Korea’s autocratic government and prevent its reunification with South Korea.
This will not be acceptable to China as it fears that the unification of the Korean countries will increase US involvement in the region.
This is one of the reasons in the relations between China and North Korea that Kim Jong Un wants to increase closer to Moscow. Another reason is that by having close ties with Russia, it can get energy at a cheaper rate and it can increase its technical, scientific and commercial cooperation.
Some commentators say that Russia’s leaning towards North Korea is a positive sign. He claimed that Russia’s request for weapons meant military and economic sanctions were working against the Kremlin. Unable to buy weapons from other countries, Putin is turning to North Korea and Iran, whose weapons are considered unreliable.
It is true that the close ties between the world’s most dangerous autocratic countries are a dire warning to the Westerner. Russia’s interests in North Korea and Iran may be selfish, but it also indicates that Moscow is not concerned about maintaining diplomatic ties with the West and may position the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a NATO rival. .
The Conversation Gola Netrapal
ophthalmologist