North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited an aircraft plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur
Photo: REUTERS
On Friday, September 15, a journalist from Komsomolskaya Pravda invited the official representative of the Kremlin to discuss the topic of the visit of the leader of the DPRK to the Khabarovsk Territory.
… – Dmitry Sergeevich, Mikhail Degtyarev, who, together with Denis Manturov, is currently receiving Comrade Kim Jong-un in Khabarovsk, recalled that Kim Jong-un’s father, the previous leader of the DPRK Kim Jong-il, visited this aircraft plant named after. Gagarin in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, in August 2002. And in July 2000, President Putin visited Pyongyang, and I had the opportunity to cover it then. Considering that Lavrov will go in October and, perhaps, Vladimir Vladimirovich will fly to Pyongyang again this year… Can we say today that contacts between the leaders of the two countries are no longer a sensation, but a tradition?
– Can. There is no sensation,” Peskov said. – We have said more than once that North Korea is our closest neighbor.
And, naturally, we are interested in building and developing relations with our closest neighbors, and doing this in all areas.
“Which is what is being done,” I continued. – I can’t help but ask this question. Everyone knows what hysteria these events caused in the West. Is the president aware of such terrible statements? And how do the Kremlin, and Vladimir Putin in particular, feel about the nervous reaction to Comrade Kim Jong-un’s visit to us?
– Alexander, you apparently have not yet familiarized yourself with the president’s answers to the questions that were asked at the beginning of the conversation with Lukashenko. Now you can take a look. The President answered just this question.
– Thanks a lot. I’ll read it right now.
BY THE WAY
What Putin and Lukashenko told reporters about
Question:
… – About the visit of Kim Jong-un. The West’s reaction is dominated by the assessment of the visit as provoking tension in the region. They say that the Russian side almost asked to send Korean volunteers to participate in the North Military District. What can you say about this?
Putin:
– I want to say that this is complete nonsense. I said a couple of days ago that we already have our men, our warriors signed contracts with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (in number – A.G.) 270 thousand, but this data was already outdated. This morning they reported: 300 thousand contracts were signed by people who, I want to emphasize again, are ready to sacrifice their lives in the interests of their Motherland, defending the interests of Russia.
Yes, we pay some money, and it is, of course, higher – much higher – than the national average, but is it possible to cover the threat of death or serious injury with some money? Of course not. And above all, our men who enter into these contracts are guided by the highest patriotic considerations. Even this in itself inspires respect. This is the first.
Secondly, with regard to provoking something, escalating the situation, creating threats to anyone. We do not create threats to anyone. The greatest threats that are created in the world today are created by today’s ruling elites. And, by the way, they themselves talk about it. Several years ago, former Minister of Defense [США], in my opinion, Mr. Gates said that the greatest threat to the United States itself comes from the territory where the Capitol, in my opinion, or the White House is located. They talk about it themselves, but look for a threat on the side.
Therefore, I want to emphasize once again, this is complete nonsense: Korea is our neighbor, and we must build good neighborly relations with our neighbors one way or another. Yes, there are certain features associated with the Korean Peninsula. We discuss this, we discuss it openly, we never violate anything and in this case we are not going to violate anything. But, of course, we will look for opportunities to develop Russian-North Korean relations.
Lukashenko:
– They, the Westerners, Vladimir Vladimirovich, must first calculate for themselves how many they have already sent their mercenaries there, how many are fighting there. There are dark-skinned, yellow-skinned, and white Americans, all of whom are fighting on the side of the Ukrainians. Why blame Russia for inviting someone there? So maybe they should do it.
And secondly, this is a dangerous statement on their part, because they are asleep and see their regular military units there, already formed in Poland near the border, you also talked about this. Military units have been formed, ready to enter Ukraine. You need to look into your own eye and look for some log there, and not reproach others.
Putin:
– I absolutely agree, completely.
By the way, we detect foreign mercenaries and foreign instructors both on the battlefield and in the units where training is carried out. In my opinion, yesterday or the day before yesterday someone was captured again.
We do not have such a need to invite people from outside for combat operations. Moreover, I want to emphasize this again, 300 thousand people signed contracts and came as volunteers. And what’s more: the units being formed are equipped with modern weapons and equipment, some are already 85–90 percent equipped.
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