Kim Jong-un Invited to Russia for Victory Day Celebration

MOSCOW — -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been invited to Moscow, the Kremlin confirmed to Russian media.

Kim has been invited to attend the Victory Day celebration in Red Square in May, which next year will honor the 70th anniversary of the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany, TASS reported.

If he accepts, it would be Kim’s first trip abroad since taking power after his father’s death in 2011. North Korea recently declared the end to a three-year mourning period for former leader Kim Jong Il’s death.

The invitation comes as Russia and North Korea have strengthened ties over the past year, and as Russia’s relationships with the United States and Europe have become strained.