A U.S. official said Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may travel to Russia soon to meet with President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin tries to acquire military equipment for use in its war in Ukraine.

The official, who was not authorized to address the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. expects Kim will make the trip within the month. The official said the U.S. isn’t sure exactly where or when the meeting would take place, but the Pacific port city of Vladivostok would be a likely possibility given its relative proximity to North Korea.

National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson noted Monday that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Pyongyang last month and tried to persuade North Korea to sell artillery ammunition to Russia.

Watson said, “We have information that Kim Jong Un expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia.”

She added that the U.S. is urging North Korea “to cease its arms negotiations with Russia and abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia.”

Shoigu said Monday that the two countries may hold joint war games.

The New York Times first reported that Kim planned to meet with Putin in Russia this month.

The White House said last week that it had intelligence indicating that Putin and Kim swapped letters following Shoigu’s visit. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the letters were “more at the surface level” but that Russian and North Korean talks on a weapons sale were advancing.

Growing trade between Moscow and the Emirates has been raising concerns among its Western allies

The US, UK and EU plan to jointly appeal to the UAE this week and request that the country stop dual-use goods sales to Russia, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday citing Western officials.

According to the report, Western states are concerned that UAE-supplied computer chips, electronic components, and other products which have both civilian and military applications could “help Moscow in its war against Ukraine.”

Despite historically strong ties with Western countries, the UAE refrained from joining them in placing sanctions on Russia in connection with the conflict in Ukraine. Instead, Abu Dhabi has been actively broadening economic cooperation with Moscow, with the trade turnover between the two states reportedly hitting all-time highs last year.

According to media reports, the flow of Russian oil and precious metals into the emirate has surged in recent months, as did the UAE’s export of microchips and civilian drones to Russia. Calculations from the Kiev School of Economics based on Russia’s trade data show that the UAE exported $149 million worth of computer components and modules to Russia in the first five months of 2023, compared with just $1 million of these goods in the same period last year. Exports of communications equipment, meanwhile, surged to $64 million from zero, and deliveries of electrical and electronic equipment jumped to $20 million from $1 million.

US and EU officials cited by the WSJ said they have become increasingly concerned that more and more Western-made goods are being exported to Russia through the UAE, which, they said, has been ignoring previous calls to stop these deliveries. A US State Department source told the WSJ that Washington was actively seeking help from other countries that “are being used to circumvent export controls and divert prohibited goods to Russian end-users.”

READ MORE: Russia-UAE trade ‘skyrocketing’ – Bloomberg

It was unclear from the report what form the joint appeal to the UAE may take and when exactly it is due to be issued. Officials from Washington and Brussels are currently on a visit to Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, a UAE official told the WSJ that his country is monitoring the export of dual-use products to Russia and is committed to protecting “the integrity of the global financial system.”

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams said Monday that he plans to run for West Virginia governor, becoming the first — and so far only — Democratic candidate in the field eight months before the primary election.

Williams announced his bid for governor during the United Mine Workers of America 84th Annual Labor Day Celebration in Racine, news outlets reported.

Seven Republicans have filed pre-candidacy papers, and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has announced he’ll seek the governor’s office.

Filing pre-candidacy papers allows campaigns to start fundraising and requires them to file campaign finance reports. A candidate isn’t officially in the race until they file a separate certificate of announcement and pay a $1,500 filing fee. The official filing period is next January.

Republican Gov. Jim Justice is prohibited by law from seeking a third consecutive term.

Ben Salango, a Democrat and Kanawha County commissioner who lost to Justice in the 2020 general election, recently announced that he won’t seek the governor’s office again.

If no other candidates enter the race, it would mark the fewest Democrats running for governor in at least 75 years, although it’s not unprecedented for a gubernatorial candidate to run unopposed. Bill Cole was the lone candidate when he won the Republican primary in 2016 before losing in the general election to Democrat Jim Justice, who then switched to the GOP seven months after taking office.

Williams was first elected in 2012 and is the first three-term mayor in Huntington history.

In 2018, he withdrew his candidacy from a U.S. House race, citing the need to focus full-time on his job as mayor to tackle the Ohio River city’s opioid crisis along with drug-related violence.

Huntington was once ground zero for the addiction epidemic in the state until a quick response program that formed in 2017 drove the overdose rate down. But the COVID-19 pandemic undid much of the progress.

The two countries aim to bring annual turnover to $100 billion

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has underscored the importance of switching to national currencies in bilateral trade with Russia. He made these comments during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Monday.

“I believe that the fact that the heads of our central banks will meet here today is important from the point of view of a step towards the transition to national currencies in bilateral relations between us,” the Turkish president stated.

Putin, in turn, noted that the pace of trade development between the two nations remains positive and that economic cooperation is diversifying beyond the traditional sectors such as agriculture and energy.

“We are very pleased that the volume of our bilateral trade is currently $62 billion, and we are moving towards our goal of $100 billion,” Erdogan replied.
 
Despite geopolitical differences, Moscow and Ankara have been trying to deepen economic ties. In April, Putin and Erdogan agreed to encourage mutual investments and help Russian and Turkish businesses enter each other’s markets.

READ MORE: Russian-Turkish trade booming – official data

Last year, Türkiye and Russia signed a roadmap for economic cooperation that envisages bringing bilateral trade turnover to $100 billion annually. The two nations have also agreed to introduce the Russian ruble as a settlement currency in bilateral trade, including payment for Russian natural gas supplies.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section