Oleg Davigora23:57, 05/08/24

Russia may not have donated larger animals because of concerns about poor conditions in Pyongyang’s zoo.

Russia has promised to send eagles, pythons, parrots and bats to North Korea in a potential form of “zoo-diplomacy”.

The promised donation of more than 40 animals to the Pyongyang Central Zoo comes amid deepening political and military ties between the two countries, and North Korea is suspected of shipping weapons to Moscow , The Telegraph writes .

Anthony Rinna, an expert on North Korea-Russia relations, said the donation could be their way of “trying to fend off China’s zoo diplomacy” as Beijing lends its famous pandas to strengthen bilateral diplomatic ties as part of its global agenda.

He said Russia may not have donated the larger animals because of concerns about poor conditions at the zoo. When the enclosure opened in 2016, one of its main attractions was Azalea, a 19-year-old chimpanzee who was trained to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day.

While the supply of weapons is considered part of the deal in exchange for food and Russian expertise, the donation of animals is interpreted as a diplomatic gesture.

Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the DPRK – details

The United States and South Korea say Pyongyang has provided millions of artillery shells and dozens of short-range ballistic missiles and launchers to support Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. In recent months, the US has accused Russia of using ballistic missiles and launchers supplied by North Korea.

According to the latest data from the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, obtained by the Reuters agency, about half of the North Korean missiles launched by Russia over Ukraine malfunctioned and exploded in the air .

In March 2024, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office reported that Russia had fired about 50 missiles since the start of the war, but the study of the wreckage provided convincing information about their reliability.

(C)UNIAN 2024