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Putin Ally Volodin Flies to North Korea Ahead of US-Russia Alaska Summit
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Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of Russia’s State Duma and a close ally of Vladimir Putin, will lead a parliamentary delegation to North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, on August 14–15, according to Reuters on August 12, citing an official statement from the State Duma .
The visit is timed to the 80th anniversary of North Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule by Allied forces at the end of World War II.
According to Reuters, the State Duma has not disclosed the full list of delegates. Volodin regularly represents Russia abroad, most recently heading a delegation to India earlier this year.
The visit comes amid growing ties between Moscow and Pyongyang. On the morning of July 28, a direct commercial flight from Moscow landed in the North Korean capital for the first time in decades, Russian state media outlet TASS reported. According to flight tracking service FlightRadar24, a Boeing 777 operated by Russia’s Nordwind Airlines touched down at Pyongyang International Airport at 9:15 a.m. local time.
Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, approved monthly flights between Moscow and Pyongyang in early July. Tickets were priced at roughly $510. The revival of this air route underscores the strengthening partnership between the two countries, particularly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, North Korea has provided munitions, artillery shells, and even personnel in support of Russia’s war effort.
Volodin’s trip to North Korea will take place alongside the planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, set for August 15 in Alaska.
Earlier, Trump said further details of the planned talks in Alaska would be announced later. Ushakov noted that US and Russian economic interests overlap in Alaska and the Arctic.
He added that the discussions are expected to address potential options for a “long-term settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.” According to him, Moscow expects the next meeting between the two leaders to be held in Russia.
