Kim Jong-un boards armoured train bound for Russia as Kremlin confirms talks with Vladimir Putin

The leaders of the two pariah states are set to meet to talk weapons. But Kim Jong-un is taking his sweet time on an armoured ‘pleasure train’.

Kim Jong-un has reportedly boarded his armoured train and is headed to Russia ahead of “imminent” talks with Vladimir Putin.

There are concerns Pyongyang and Moscow could ink a deal that provides Russia with more arms to batter Ukraine which North Korea could even technology for its nuclear weapons program.

The North Korean leader rarely leaves his country, making the visit a rarity, reports The Sun.

Kim doesn’t fly which essentially puts a Moscow meeting out of the question. AS such, he is travelling by rail to Vladivostok, the closest Russian city of any size to North Korea.

But the painstakingly slow train could take at least 20 hours to complete the journey.

The visit between the dictators is the first since 2019, also held in Vladivostok.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un waving before boarding his train at the Dong Dang railway station in the Vietnamese town of Lang Son in 2019. (Photo by STR / Vietnam News Agency / AFP)

The Kremlin press service said in a statement: “At the invitation of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Chairman of State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong-un will pay an official visit to the Russian Federation in the coming days.”

Kim appears to be on his way to North Korea’s northeastern border, South Korean broadcaster YTN reported on Tuesday.

Kim is set travel on his bulletproof “pleasure train” packed with vintage booze and strippers.

With 21 carriages, Kim’s mysterious dark green train features tinted windows to obscure the identities of those on board the machine.

Each carriage is completely bulletproof, making the train thousands of pounds heavier – and slower than average with a maximum speed of 60 km/h.

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes North Korean leader Kim Jong-un prior to their talks at the Far Eastern Federal University campus on Russky island in the far-eastern Russian port of Vladivostok on April 25, 2019. (Photo by Yuri KADOBNOV / AFP)

Putin is already in Vladivostok, where the Eastern Economic Forum is currently ongoing.

Kim is reportedly willing to hand Putin artillery shells and antitank missiles in exchange for satellite and nuclear submarine technology.

The White House has already said that arms negotiations between North Korea and Russia are “actively advancing”.

Washington DC has repeatedly warned Pyongyang off supplying Moscow with weapons.

The two nations have strong military ties and plan to hold joint war games, according to Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

He travelled to Pyongyang in August in the hopes of convincing North Korea to sell artillery ammunition to Putin.

Kim and Putin have reportedly since exchanged letters “pledging to increase their bilateral co-operation”.

The trip marks Kim’s first visit abroad in more than four years.

This story appeared in The Sun and is reproduced with permission.