The West is jealous of Russia on the diplomatic front.

Western media and officials are on edge over the potential dangers of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s visit to Russia. They are trying to find out what agreements North Korea reached with Russia during this special high-level visit.

After the negotiations in Ulan-Ude, the media and Western officials were surprised when North Korea agreed to return to the six-party talks without conditions regarding its nuclear program.

Previously, the six-party talks were always interrupted by North Korea's lack of cooperation. In addition, after President Kim Jong Il's visit to Russia, North Korea and Russia also reached an agreement to build a gas pipeline from Russia to South Korea through North Korean territory.

And if all goes well, North Korea will join a massive international economic project that promises to bring many benefits to the country.

According to the US Wall Street Journal, the North Korean leader's visit to Russia has a purpose and it is not beyond the issue of economic aid.

To support its argument, the newspaper mentioned that Kim Jong Il has recently called for “more active help” from traditional donors to deal with the consequences of economic sanctions against North Korea as well as annual natural disasters and floods.

As a result, Chairman Kim's call was answered. Russia's Emergency Ministry pledged to help North Korea overcome the consequences of the disasters.

The US press has consistently stated that North Korea's main purpose in visiting Russia is to reach agreements on food aid. They believe that for a country like North Korea that regularly suffers from famine, good relations with Russia will help the country receive more food aid from the international community.

Sharing the same view with its American colleagues, the British newspaper The Independent repeatedly argued that North Korea's "cooperative" attitude in resuming the six-party talks is necessary to save the country from chronic famine.

However, this newspaper also put forward another interesting hypothesis that North Korea is trying to gain Russia's support for the power transition between Chairman Kim and his youngest son, Kim Jong Un.

In addition, according to South Korean experts, North Korea also has its own political goals. Obviously, with its recent pro-Russian move, North Korea wants to reduce its increasingly strong dependence on its traditional number one partner, China.

As for Russia, the US press is sure that this country also has its own calculations. The Wall Street Journal commented that Russia is eager to contribute to the development of a port city in Northeastern Korea as well as plans to build a gas pipeline to supply gas to both North Korea and South Korea.

In addition, Korean experts also believe that Russia's real motive in befriending North Korea is to restore its position in Northeast Asia after losing influence in the post-Cold War period.

The New York Times initially doubted the long-term prospects of the Russia-North Korea talks. Even if Kim and Medvedev reached agreements on energy, the newspaper said disagreements over North Korea's nuclear weapons development would cause the negotiations to fail.

However, this assessment is clearly wrong because North Korea's nuclear programs do not pose any obstacle to energy negotiations between the country and Russia.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that the US State Department immediately wanted to discuss the results of the negotiations with Russia. This statement was made by the official representative of the State Department, Ms. Victoria Nuland.

"Russia is one of the parties participating in the six-party talks. The Russians' goals are aligned with our goals. Therefore, we have issues to discuss with Russia after Chairman Kim's visit ends," Ms. Victoria emphasized.

In addition, the US State Department representative did not hesitate to mention another concern related to the existence of North Korea's uranium enrichment facilities and accused this existence of violating the United Nations resolution.

Despite the above mixed comments, the US State Department and the Western press were forced to admit that the agreements reached by the two countries' leaders during Chairman Kim's recent visit to Russia were clearly a success in Russia's diplomacy. And more importantly, this success is making the US and its allies restless.

Many US media agencies have praised Russia's success in getting North Korea to resume the unconditional six-party talks and agree to build a gas pipeline.

The Christian Science Monitor commented that the agreements that Russia and North Korea have just reached are a breakthrough in the Kremlin's foreign policy.

German magazine Der Spiegel commented that the visit of the North Korean President to Russia is a new beginning for the relationship between the two countries.

The agreements between Russia and North Korea following President Kim Jong Il's rare visit to Russia have attracted particular attention from the Western media.

(According to datviet)