North Korean leader Kim Jong Un heading to Russia for meeting with Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has departed for Russia where he is expected to hold a highly anticipated meeting with President Vladimir Putin that has sparked Western concerns about a potential arms deal for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said that Mr Kim boarded his personal train from the capital, Pyongyang, on Sunday afternoon, and that he will be accompanied by unspecified members of the country’s ruling party, government and military.