Putin joins unscheduled meeting at Kremlin with North Korea’s foreign affairs minister

On Monday in Moscow, Vladimir Putin met with North Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Choe Son-hui, who reportedly conveyed “warmest wishes” from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The Kremlin provided no further details.

Last week, the president’s spokesman said Putin had no plans to meet with Choe Son-hui. It is unclear why plans changed, though the reported involvement of thousands of North Korean troops in Russia’s occupied Kursk region has alarmed world leaders and attracted international media attention.