<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un has started his journey to Russia for a summit with President Vladimir Putin.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The two are likely to discuss an arms deal as Russia faces a Ukrainian counter offensive, a US official said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Kim is accompanied by senior government officials, including military personnel, KCNA reported.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Kremlin has also confirmed his visit to Russia. The meeting between the two leaders is expected to take place as early as Tuesday local time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Photos shared by state media showed Mr Kim waving from his armoured train before departing Pyongyang.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Pentagon said it expected "some type of meeting", according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If the summit with Mr Putin goes ahead, it will be the North Korean leader's first international trip in more than four years, and the first since the pandemic.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">High on the meeting's agenda is the possibility of North Korea providing Moscow with weapons to support its war in Ukraine, a US official earlier told CBS.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Kim's last trip abroad was also to Vladivostok in 2019 for a summit with Mr Putin after the collapse of North Korea's nuclear disarmament talks with then US President Donald Trump.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">His train is rumoured to include at least 20 bulletproof cars, making it heavier than average trains and unable to go beyond 59 km/h (37mph). His journey to Vladivostok is expected to take an entire day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The White House has said it has new information that arms negotiations between the Russia and North Korea are "actively advancing".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">National Security Council spokesman John Kirby earlier said Russia's Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, had tried to "convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition" to Russia during a recent visit to North Korea.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia and North Korea each have things that the other country wants, according to Ankit Panda from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"What'll matter now is if both sides can find suitable prices they're willing to pay for the other's assistance," he told the BBC.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia will likely ask North Korea for conventional arms, including artillery shells and rocket artillery munitions in exchange for food and raw materials, and continuing support at international forums like the United Nations, he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"This could open up the possibility of North Korea transferring more sophisticated weaponry to Russia to allow Moscow to maintain and backfill its own stocks of conventional weapons," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is thought that Russia might need 122mm and 152mm shells because its stocks are running low, but it is not easy to determine North Korea's full artillery inventory, given its secretive nature.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Weapons on display at the meeting between Mr Kim and Mr Shoigu in July included the Hwasong intercontinental ballistic missile, believed to be the country's first ICBM to use solid propellants.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was the first time Mr Kim had opened the country's doors to foreign guests since the Covid pandemic. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>