Pyongyang: The chief of Russia's parliamentary lower house met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang and conveyed greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin, a Russian media report said Friday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the meeting between Kim and Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma, took place the previous day during his visit to Pyongyang for the 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese occupation. TASS reported, citing a Russian parliamentary news release, that Volodin congratulated the North Korean leadership and people on this significant anniversary on behalf of President Putin during a solemn meeting.
Volodin expressed gratitude to Kim for the support the North Korean people provided on the Kursk frontline region in the Russia-Ukraine war, as per the report. The Russian lawmaker is in North Korea with a parliamentary delegation to mark the 80th anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japan's colonial rule, which falls on Friday.
On Thursday, Volodin also had discussions with Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of North Korea's parliamentary standing committee, to explore interparliamentary interaction between the two countries, TASS stated.