![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/Putin-Visits-Vladivostok-4956683.jpg?r=1694554864078\")
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Vladimir Putin has accused Britain of being involved in a foiled attack on a Russian nuclear power plant.<\/p>\n
The Russian president’s unsubstantiated claims formed part of a long diatribe about the West’s ongoing support for Ukraine. He was speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, ahead of a meeting – which is widely suspected to be an arms deal – with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.<\/p>\n
The United States has warned that \u201cany transfer of arms from North Korea to Russia would be a violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions\u201d, and that the US \u201cwill not hesitate to impose new sanctions\u201d. However, Putin ramped up his anti-west rhetoric ahead of his meeting with Kim.<\/p>\n
He told the forum in Vladivostok that the UK forces had been involved in an alleged plot to train Ukrainian saboteurs. He claimed the would-be ‘saboteurs’ had been arrested Russian state security before they could carry out the attack.<\/p>\n
Under interrogation, the ‘saboteurs’ said had been trained by British instructors, claimed Putin. He offered no evidence to support any of his claims.<\/p>\n
Read more… <\/strong> Ukraine fears desperate Putin is plotting massive strikes in autumn and winter<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThese kinds of things are seriously concerning because they [the UK] don\u2019t feel the ground – which can lead to serious consequences,\u201d said Putin. \u201cDo they understand what they are playing with?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre they trying to provoke us into retaliating against Ukrainian atomic power stations? Does the British prime minister know what his secret services are doing in Ukraine?\u201d<\/p>\n Putin made the claims as North Korea\u2019s Kim Jong Un rolled through Russia on an armoured train. Their meeting will be a rare encounter between isolated leaders driven together by their need for support in escalating stand-offs with the West.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Kim is expected to seek economic aid and military technology for his impoverished country, and, in a twist, appears to have something Mr Putin desperately needs: munitions for Russia\u2019s gruelling war in Ukraine. It is a chance for the North Korean leader to get around crippling UN sanctions and years of diplomatic isolation.<\/p>\n For Putin, it is an opportunity to refill ammunition stores that the war has drained. Any arms deal with North Korea would violate the sanctions, which Russia supported in the past.<\/p>\n Kim\u2019s personal train stopped in Khasan, a station on the Russia-North Korea border, where it was met by a military honour guard and a brass band, according to video posted on social media channels. He was met on a red carpet by regional governor Oleg Kozhemyako and natural resources minister Alexander Kozlov, their channels said. Mr Kim\u2019s final destination is uncertain.<\/p>\n Many had assumed he and Putin would meet in Vladivostok, a Russian city close to the border where the two leaders had their last meeting in 2019, and which Putin is visiting this week for an economic forum. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed only that Kim has entered Russia, and state news agency RIA-Novosti later reported his train had headed north after crossing the Razdolnaya River, taking it away from Vladivostok.<\/p>\n The South Korean news agency Yonhap later published a photo it said showed the train in Ussuriysk, a city about 60 kilometres (about 40 miles) north of Vladivostok that has a sizable ethnic Korean population. Some Russian news media speculate he is headed for the Vostochny spaceport, which Putin is to visit soon.<\/p>\n At the forum, Putin declined to say what he intended to do there. The launch facility is about 900 kilometres (550 miles) north-west of Ussuriysk, but the route there is circuitous and it is unclear how long Mr Kim\u2019s slow-moving train would take to reach it.<\/p>\n Peskov said Putin and Kim will meet after the Vladivostok forum, and that the meeting would include a lunch in Kim\u2019s honour. North Korea\u2019s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim left Pyongyang on his train on Sunday, accompanied by members of the ruling party, government and military.<\/p>\n Officials identified in North Korean state media photos could hint at what Kim might seek from Putin and what he would be willing to give. Kim is apparently accompanied by Jo Chun Ryong, a ruling party official in charge of munitions policies who joined him on recent tours of factories producing artillery shells and missiles, according to South Korea\u2019s Unification Ministry.<\/p>\n Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu will be part of the Russian delegation, Peskov said. North Korea may have tens of millions of ageing artillery shells and rockets based on Soviet designs that could give a huge boost to the Russian army in Ukraine, analysts say.<\/p>\n Also identified in photos were Pak Thae Song, chairman of North Korea\u2019s space science and technology committee, and navy Admiral Kim Myong Sik, who are linked with North Korean efforts to acquire spy satellites and nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarines.<\/p>\n Experts say North Korea would struggle to acquire such capabilities without external help, although it is not clear if Russia would share such sensitive technology. Kim Jong Un may also seek badly needed energy and food supplies, analysts say.<\/p>\n Deputy foreign minister Andrei Rudenko said Russia may discuss humanitarian aid with the North Korean delegation, according to Russian news agencies. Kim\u2019s delegation is also likely to include foreign minister Choe Sun Hui and his top two military officials, Korean People\u2019s Army Marshals Ri Pyong Chol and Pak Jong Chon.<\/p>\n Data from FlightRadar24.com, which tracks flights worldwide, showed an Air Koryo An-148 took off from Pyongyang on Tuesday and flew to Vladivostok. North Korea\u2019s national airline has only just resumed flying internationally after being grounded during the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n There had been speculation that North Korea could use a plane to fly in support staff. im is making his first foreign trip since the pandemic, during which North Korea imposed tight border controls for more than three years.<\/p>\n After decades of hot-and-cold relations, Russia and North Korea have drawn closer since Moscow\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Lim Soo-suk, South Korea\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said Seoul was maintaining communication with Moscow while closely monitoring Mr Kim\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n \u201cNo UN member state should violate Security Council sanctions against North Korea by engaging in an illegal trade of arms, and must certainly not engage in military co-operation with North Korea that undermines the peace and stability of the international community,\u201d Lim said at a briefing.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> US officials released intelligence last week that North Korea and Russia were arranging the summit. According to US officials, Mr Putin could focus on securing more supplies of North Korean artillery and other ammunition to refill arsenals as Moscow seeks to rebuff a Ukrainian counteroffensive and show that he is capable of grinding out a long war of attrition.<\/p>\n That could potentially put more pressure on the US and its partners to pursue negotiations as concerns over a protracted conflict grow despite their huge shipments of advanced weaponry to Ukraine in the past 17 months.<\/p>\n \u201cWe urge the DPRK to abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia,\u201d said White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson, using the abbreviation for North Korea\u2019s official name of the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea.<\/p>\n State Department spokesman Matthew Miller reminded both countries that \u201cany transfer of arms from North Korea to Russia would be a violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions\u201d, and that the US \u201cwill not hesitate to impose new sanctions\u201d.<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that Tokyo will be watching the Kim-Putin meeting with concern, including the \u201cimpact it could have on Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine\u201d. The United States has accused North Korea of providing Russia with arms, including selling artillery shells to the Russian mercenary group Wagner.<\/p>\n Both Russian and North Korean officials denied such claims. But speculation about their military co-operation grew after Mr Shoigu visited North Korea in July, when Kim invited him to an arms exhibition and a massive military parade in the capital showcasing ICBMs designed to target the US mainland.<\/p>\n Following that visit, Kim toured North Korea\u2019s weapons factories, including a facility producing artillery systems, urging workers to speed up development and large-scale production of new kinds of ammunition. Experts say Kim\u2019s visits to the factories were likely to have had a dual goal of encouraging the modernisation of North Korean weaponry and examining artillery and other supplies that could be exported to Russia.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/orth-Korea-leader-Kim-Jong-Un-in-Russia-4956686.jpg?r=1694554864191\")
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