US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell says North Korea may receive assistance in nuclear long-range missile development from Russia in return for its weapons supplies, as per Reuters.

During the last visit to North Korea, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said Russia might supply weapons to North Korea in response to the Western arming of Ukraine.

“We believe that there are discussions about what North Korea gets in exchange, and they could be associated with its nuclear or long-range missile-development plans, perhaps other things in energy and the like,” he claimed.

Campbell also claims that China is probably worried that North Korea will be inspired by Putin’s visit to take “provocative” steps that could lead to a crisis in Northeast Asia.

“I think it is fair to say that China is somewhat anxious about what’s going on between Russia and North Korea. They have indicated so in some of our interactions, and we can see some tension associated with those things,” stated the US official.

According to Campbell, “a resurgence of tension” will likely be observed between Moscow and Beijing in the future, “but it’s impossible to predict what that situation looks like in decades.”

He claimed that their alignment is currently powerful and sustaining and has a huge impact on European battlefields.

Read more:

• The Washington Post: New data shows North Korea transporting large amounts of munitions to Russia
• BBC: Putin warns South Korea to make “big mistake” if it supplies Ukraine with weapons
• Seoul says Pyongyang sent million artillery shells to Russia and will send more
  
• Russia, North Korea deepen cooperation during Putin’s first visit to Korea in 24 years