North Korean Workers’ Party Secretary Ri Hi Yong returned home on Sunday after an unexpected meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Russia, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
The agency stated that a Workers’ Party of Korea delegation, led by Comrade Ri Hi Yong, visited Russia and returned on Saturday. Russian Ambassador to North Korea Aleksandr Matsegoro welcomed the delegation back.
Ri left Pyongyang for Moscow on February 24 and held an unscheduled meeting with Putin on February 27. Putin’s invitation to the Kremlin for talks was seen as a special gesture, highlighting the strength of North Korea—Russia relations.
While the specific details of their conversation remain undisclosed, speculation is that they discussed ongoing international efforts to resolve the Russia- Ukraine conflict.
Some analysts also suggest that Kim Jong Un’s potential visit to Russia may have been on the agenda, as Putin visited North Korea last June and invited Kim to visit Moscow.
North Korean media extensively covered the meeting between Ri and Putin. According to reports, Ri conveyed a “militant greeting” from Kim Jong Un to Putin, who expressed gratitude for North Korea’s steadfast support of Russia. The news agency described the talks as taking place in a “consistently comradely and friendly atmosphere.”
On February 25, Ri met with Vladimir Yakushev, Secretary General of the United Russia party, to sign a protocol expanding and deepening inter-party cooperation from 2025 to 2027. The following day, he met with Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of the United Russia party and deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council.