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\u201cFrom that perspective, Kim Jong-un is clearly right that taking a train would be a lot safer [than a plane].\u201d<\/p>\n
Prigozhin\u2019s private business jet plunged into the ground of the Tver region more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Moscow last month.<\/p>\n
Initial reports suggested the plane was downed by a Russian surface-to-air missile. And US and Western officials say the plane was likely brought down by an intentional explosion.<\/p>\n
A Russian Investigative Committee is looking into the circumstances, but the Kremlin has poured cold water on calls for the International Civil Aviation Organization to investigate.<\/p>\n
With the details still unconfirmed, Kim may deem it a risky step to cross over into Russian airspace, it is suggested.<\/p>\n
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That the hermit Kingdom\u2019s ruler is leaving the country at all has come as a shock to Shoemaker.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI\u2019m genuinely surprised that Kim Jong-un is actually leaving North Korea. He does not travel outside of the country very much at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is clearly a certain amount of paranoia from the Kim family not just with regard to flying on airplanes as such. There is a heightened sense of paranoia that their regime\u2019s stability is not secure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis tends to happen in a lot of authoritarian regimes. They are always terrified that there is a fifth column operating in the shadows that is waiting to take them down.\u201d<\/p>\n
The meeting comes as Moscow and Pyongyang continue to cozy up amid the Ukraine war while the West condemns both nations.<\/p>\n
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The Kremlin\u2019s defence industry has been heavily sanctioned for its illegal invasion, while analysts speculated about whether Putin\u2019s men are running low on high-precision ammunition after relentless missile barrages.<\/p>\n
Declassified American intelligence appeared to back up these claims. It revealed that Russia had been buying millions of artillery shells and rockets from North Korea, suggesting sanctions and war have battered its supply chains.<\/p>\n
But John R. Bryson, professor of enterprise and economic geography at Birmingham University, told Daily Express US that Kim may have little else to offer.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cRussia’s ongoing military cooperation with North Korea is an example of Putin’s desperation. North Korea is not an innovator in terms of military technology. North Korea can provide Russia with weapons, but of what quality and quantity?<\/p>\n
“There are also dangers for Putin in Russia becoming too aligned with North Korea. What could be forming is an alliance of rogue states.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul Bracken, professor of management and political science at the Yale School of Management, is more concerned about Pyongyang\u2019s offerings.<\/p>\n
He told Daily Express US: \u201cThere will be huge consequences: evading sanctions; sell ammo, drones, and landmines; and allow key specialists to help build their national programs. A Russian missile engineer can more easily go to North Korea to consult now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shoemaker agreed that Moscow will likely ask Pyongyang for \u201cmore ammunition and more military kit from the North Koreans\u201d.<\/p>\n
Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu visited North Korea last month, observing banned ballistic missiles alongside Kim at a military expo in Pyongyang.<\/p>\n
Shoigu said in a statement released by Russia\u2019s defence ministry following the meeting: \u201cI am convinced that today\u2019s talks will help strengthen cooperation between our defence agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n