U.S. threatens additional sanctions on North Korea if the communist nation inks arms deal with Russia

 The United States is threatening to add even more sanctions against the rogue communist nation of North Korea if it sells weapons to Russia.

This warning comes as North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un is believed to have crossed into Russia on his armored train to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and, according to U.S. intelligence, to negotiate an arms deal.  

North Korean state media confirmed that Kim left Pyongyang for Russia on Sunday, Sept. 10, and that he was accompanied by top military officials and arms industry leaders. Russian state television later confirmed Kim's arrival, showing the communist leader dressed in a suit and smiling as he stepped off his armored train onto a red carpet at a train station in the Russian Far East, being greeted by a welcome delegation from the Kremlin, including Alexander Kozlov, the minister for natural resources.

Kim is expected to spend a lot of his time in Russia in negotiations. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the Russian and North Korean delegations would be negotiating and, if needed, Kim will be meeting with Putin in a "one-on-one format."

Washington warns Pyongyang will "pay a price" for selling arms to Moscow

The U.S. has warned North Korea against selling weapons to Russia that could end up being used in the Kremlin's ongoing special military operation in Ukraine.

"We urge the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] to abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia," said National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson in an interview with South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan similarly warned that North Korea will "pay a price" if it supplies weapons to Russia.

Sullivan said Moscow is seeking material support from North Korea because the U.S. has allegedly "continued to squeeze Russia's defense industrial base, and the Russians are now going about looking to whatever source they can find for things like artillery ammunition."

He added that providing Russia with weapons for its ongoing conflict in Ukraine "is not going to reflect well on North Korea, and they will pay a price for this in the international community."

Meanwhile, other U.S. officials have warned that any arms deal with North Korea would be a direct violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, including one in 2006 that sanctioned Pyongyang over its nuclear program.

"We urge the DPRK to cease its arms negotiations with Russia," said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. "And we are taking action directly to exposing and sanctioning individuals and entities working to facilitate arms deals between Russia and the DPRK."

Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller similarly warned that the U.S. will continue to "hold accountable" entities that help Russia's ongoing military campaign in Ukraine.

"I will remind both countries that any transfer of arms from North Korea to Russia would be in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions," said Miller. "We, of course, have aggressively enforced our sanctions against entities that fund Russia's war effort, and we will continue to enforce those sanctions and will not hesitate to impose new sanctions if appropriate."

Peskov has brushed off American warnings, saying that Russian national interests would dictate its policies. "While implementing our relations with our neighbors, including North Korea, the interests of our two countries are important to us, and not warnings from Washington," he said.