A potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may soon come to fruition. According to The New York Times, it appears the two leaders will soon meet to discuss supplying Russia with more weapons for its war in Ukraine and other military operations. Meanwhile, Kim is apparently looking for Russia to give North Korea advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines as well as food aid.
Thom Shanker is the director of the Project for Media & National Security at the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs. He was named director after a nearly quarter-century career with The New York Times, including 13 years as Pentagon correspondent covering the Department of Defense, overseas combat operations and national security policy. Before joining The Times, he was foreign editor of The Chicago Tribune. He spent five years as The Tribune's Moscow correspondent, covering the start of the Gorbachev era to the death of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the communist empire in Eastern Europe.
Shanker says there are a number of big issues related to this potential meeting to consider, including what Putin might get out of this, what Kim would get out of this, and what this means to the U.S.-Ukraine-NATO effort.
If you would like to speak with Shanker, please contact GW Senior Media Relations Specialist Cate Douglass at [email protected].
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