Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko confirmed on 25 September 2026 that Moscow has formally invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to visit the Russian capital, a trip that, if it goes ahead, would be Kim’s first-ever visit to Moscow after two previous trips to Russia’s Far East.
An invitation years in the making
“Kim Jong-un has been invited to visit our country,” Rudenko said in comments carried by Russian state media. “Russia will always be glad to welcome the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The dates of the visit will be agreed upon through diplomatic channels.” Kim has met President Vladimir Putin twice on Russian soil, in Vladivostok in 2019 and at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in 2023, but has never travelled to Moscow itself. The renewed invitation follows North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui’s visit to Russia in July 2026, and comes after Putin raised the idea of a Moscow trip during his own visit to Pyongyang in June 2024 and again when the two leaders met in Beijing in September 2025.
A treaty already reshaping the battlefield
Rudenko said the invitation reflects the deepening ties formalised by the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty that Putin and Kim signed in Pyongyang in June 2024, which commits each country to military assistance if the other faces armed attack. North Korea’s state newspaper Rodong Sinmun has described the pact as “an essential legal weapon” underpinning “a new global order,” and Pyongyang has pledged to “actively support” Russian government policy under its terms. In practice, the treaty has coincided with North Korea sending more than 10,000 troops to help Russia repel Ukrainian forces from its Kursk region, along with large shipments of munitions and ballistic missiles, as well as the restoration of direct air links and joint construction projects between the two countries.
Why it matters
A first Kim visit to Moscow would be the most visible symbol yet of an alliance that has moved from wartime convenience to a standing strategic partnership, giving Kim a rare high-profile appearance on the world stage alongside Putin in the Russian capital itself. For Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, it would underline that sanctions and diplomatic isolation have done little to stop Pyongyang and Moscow deepening military and political cooperation, even as the exact timing of any trip remains unannounced.
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