Vladimir Putin must really be desperate for help since he's planning to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and talk about weapons, top US diplomat says

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is planning to meet with Vladimir Putin to discuss a possible arms deal.
• The move just shows the Kremlin's "desperation," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC News.

A top United States diplomat said that Russian President Vladimir Putin must really need help if he's planning to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to discuss a possible deal to supply Moscow with weapons.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC News on Thursday that Kim's planned upcoming trip to Russia for arms deal talks shows the Kremlin's "desperation."

The New York Times, citing several unnamed officials from the US and its allies, reported on Monday that Kim was planning to travel to Russia later this month to discuss supplying weapons to Russia to use for its war against Ukraine.

In exchange, Kim is looking for food supplies for North Korea, the report added.

Retired US Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling told CNN this week that the potential Kim-Putin meeting was a union between "two desperate leaders of the world's most noted pariah states."

"This will generate a lot of attention. It's showing that Mr. Putin is scrambling for help," said Hertling, who previously served as the commanding general of US Army Europe.

Moscow's war on Ukraine has been grinding on since Putin launched the full-scale invasion in February 2022 and Russia has suffered heavy losses in both military personnel and resources.

In June, Ukraine launched its long-awaited counteroffensive to reclaim Russian-occupied territory in the east and south of the country.

The counteroffensive has been slow-moving, but Blinken told NBC News on Thursday that Ukrainian troops were making "very tangible progress" over the last couple of weeks.

"The Russians had a lot of time in this case to prepare for the counteroffensive. They put tens of thousands of mines in places, other defensive fortifications," Blinken said. "The Ukrainians are working and going through it, but at the end of the day, they have a determination, they have a desire that will outmatch whatever the Russians put into this."