Russia said on Friday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visiting Moscow next year was a possibility, noting that high-level exchanges are always taking place with Pyongyang as its "close neighbor."
High-ranking Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made the comment to reporters asking about the possibility, Russia's TASS and Sputnik news agencies reported.
"Of course, close neighbors constantly exchange visits at the highest levels," Peskov was quoted by the media as saying.
Peskov said that Russia is also developing "strong ties" with North Korea in all spheres.
The comments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin moved to implicitly acknowledge the North's deployment of its troops to Russia in support of its war in Ukraine.
Asked about troop dispatch at a multilateral summit in Kazan, Putin said he wouldn't rule it in or out but stated that his government seriously views the recently inked mutual treaty with North Korea and what Russia does with the North within that framework is "our business."
Speaking with the state-run Rossiya-1 TV channel, Putin said Moscow and Pyongyang will determine how to use Article 4 of a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty, which includes provisions for mutual defense.
"If we need to make some decision, we will surely make one. Our colleagues in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have a respective position," Putin said, referring to North Korea's official name.
"But, however, I would like to say that this will be our sovereign decision: whether we will apply something or not, where, how. Whether we need it or whether we will be engaged, let's say, only in conducting some exercises, training, and sharing experience. This is entirely our own business," he added.
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