US mocks Putin’s gift of Russian-made car to North Korea’s Kim

by Sarah Fortinsky - 02/22/24 11:45 AM ET

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, on Sept. 13, 2023. North Korea on Monday, Sept. 25 called South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol “a guy with a trash-like brain” and “a diplomatic idiot” as it slammed him for using a U.N. speech to issue a warning over the North’s deepening military ties with Russia. (Vladimir Smirnov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File) — Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky on Sept. 13, 2023. (Vladimir Smirnov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller poked fun at Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in response to reports that Putin gifted a luxury car to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“I, actually, frankly, didn’t know there was such a thing as a Russian luxury car,” Miller said at a press briefing when asked about concerns that the gift violates United Nations sanctions against North Korea. “I hope Kim got the extended warranty.”

“I’m not sure, if I were buying a luxury car, Russia would be the place I would look, even if it was — even if it wasn’t with respect to sanctions,” he added.

Miller said that, as reported, Russia’s luxury gift would indeed violate its commitment to the U.N. resolutions sanctioning North Korea.

“But U.N. Security Council resolutions do require all U.N. member states to prohibit both the supply of transportation vehicles and the supply of luxury automobiles to the DPRK,” Miller said, using the initials for the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “And if this is true, it would appear to be once again Russia violating U.N. Security Council resolutions that it itself supported.”

Leaders of Russia and North Korea both reported on Tuesday that Putin gifted Kim with a Russian-made luxury limousine for his personal use. The incident marks just the latest in what many onlookers say is a series of violations of U.N. sanctions against North Korea, as the two countries have grown closer in recent months.

U.S., South Korea and their allies have accused North Korea of supplying arms to Russia to aid in its war against Ukraine, in exchange for advanced Russian military technology and other support — in violation of several U.N. resolutions restricting weapons exchanges with North Korea.

Tags Kim Jong Un Matthew Miller North Korea russia state department Vladimir Putin