Russia has every right to maintain dialogue with North Korea

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/: Russia expects all sorts of speculations around the upcoming visit to Moscow by North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui due from January 15 through 17, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

“First, there will be talks. Second, naturally, there will be a lot of speculation. The West keeps on floating the narrative that Russia is behaving in a wrong way and has no right to communicate with North Korea,” she said in an interview with the Voskresny Vecher (Sunday Evening) with Vladimir Soloviiov program on the Rossiya-1 television channel.

“We have the right to do what we think appropriate, bearing in mind that we always declare respect to international law,” she stressed. “We are violating nothing. We are developing relations with our partners in various spheres.”

Choe Son-hui will pay an official visit to Russia from January 15 through 17. Talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are planned.

Lavrov visited Pyongyang in October 2023. The visit was timed to the 75th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Russia and North Korea. The Russian minister was received by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.