Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday mentioned that the United States believes Russia’s defence minister is in North Korea to safe provides of weapons to assist the stalled invasion of Ukraine.

Following Sergei Shoigu’s arrival on a uncommon journey to Pyongyang, Blinken mentioned that Russia is scrambling to purchase arms from allies internationally.

“I strongly doubt he’s there on holiday,” Blinken instructed reporters in Australia.

“We’re seeing Russia desperately looking for support, for weapons, wherever it can find them to continue to prosecute its aggression against Ukraine,” he mentioned.

“We see that in North Korea, we see that as well with Iran, which has provided many drones to Russia that it’s using to destroy civilian infrastructure and killed civilians in Ukraine.”

While in North Korea, Shoigu met the nation’s chief Kim Jong Un, in what Pyongyang’s state media described as “a friendly talk.”

Russia, a historic ally of North Korea, is one in every of a handful of countries with which Pyongyang maintains pleasant relations.