US says North Korea summit shows Putin ‘begging’ for help

The United States on Monday described Russian President Vladimir Putin as desperate over the Ukraine conflict in meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and renewed warnings that any arms deal could trigger US sanctions.

“Having to travel across the length of his own country to meet with an international pariah to ask for assistance in a war that he expected to win in the opening month, I would characterize it as him begging for assistance,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.