WASHINGTON: North Korea has started sending artillery to Russia as Moscow continues its war in Ukraine after last month's rare summit between President Vladimir Putin and Pyongyang's Kim Jong-un about a potential bilateral arms deal, a media report said.
Citing an unnamed US official, CBS News reported on the apparent arms transfer that came in the wake of the Kim-Putin summit at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport, last month.
The summit raised speculation that it might have led to a deal feared to help advance North Korea's efforts to build spy satellites and other weapons and in return prop up Russia's war in Ukraine, reports Yonhap News Agency.
"It was not immediately clear whether the transfer is part of a new, long-term supply chain or a more limited consignment, or what North Korea is getting in return for the weapons," the report said.
Seoul and Washington have criticised any possible transfer of arms between Pyongyang and Moscow, warning they would flout multiple UN Security Council resolutions, which Russia itself voted for.
This was the longest overseas trip by Kim since taking power.
Including travel time, the North Korean leader spent a total of eight days on his visit to Russia.