Russian President Vladimir Putin and Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un cruised around Pyongyang in a Russian-built Aurus limousine, video posted Wednesday to Twitter shows.
Putin, visiting Pyongyang to sign a defense pact between Russia and North Korea, gifted the car to Kim Jong Un, who is apparently an avid motor vehicle enthusiast, Reuters reported Wednesday.
Putin drove the hermitic dictator around for a short while in the limo, the second of its kind that Putin gifted to him, according to Russian state media, before they got out to walk around.
Vladimir Putin gave Kim Jong Un a ride in the Russian Aurus, after the ride they went for a short walk. pic.twitter.com/5QEYV1SncH
— Global Info Factory (@GlobalInfoFact) June 19, 2024
The Aurus model is a Russian-built luxury vehicle, which Putin himself uses in his presidential motorcade, according to Reuters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) drives the Aurus presidential limousine as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (L) sits next to him at the Sochi’s F1 race track on October 17, 2018. ALEXEI DRUZHININ/AFP via Getty Images
The gift violates United Nations sanctions on North Korea, which prohibit member nations from supplying luxury items to the state, The Associated Press reported. (RELATED: Do Sanctions Even Work? North Korea Undeterred In Its Nuclear March)
Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, voted “yes” on the sanctions package, which included the ban on luxury goods in 2016, the AP reported.
Besides gifting his North Korean counterpart a shiny, new toy, Putin was in Pyongyang to sign a landmark agreement with the country, which provides for “mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties,” according to Russian-state media agency TASS.
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (R) greets Russian President Vladimir Putin during a welcoming ceremony upon Putin’s arrival in Pyongyang, early on June 19, 2024. Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in North Korea early on June 19, the Kremlin said, kicking off a visit set to boost defence ties between the two nuclear-armed countries as Moscow pursues its war in Ukraine. GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
The defense pact also stated the nations’ collective goal to “consistently defend the idea of building a fairer and more democratic multipolar world order,” TASS reported.
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin (C-L) and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (C-R) walk on the tarmac during a welcoming ceremony upon Putin’s arrival at Pyongyang Airport, early on June 19, 2024. Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in North Korea early on June 19, the Kremlin said, kicking off a visit set to boost defence ties between the two nuclear-armed countries as Moscow pursues its war in Ukraine. VLADIMIR SMIRNOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
The sides also both criticized the U.S., who they blamed for regional conflicts.
“It is the confrontational policy of the United States to expand its military infrastructure in the subregion,” the defense agreement said, according to TASS.
