On September 29, Choe Son Hui, the North Korean foreign ministry’s senior official for North American affairs, met with senior Russian foreign affairs official Oleg Burmistrov in Moscow.

The meeting came at a time of high tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. The week had seen claims from the North Koreans that President Trump, in a fiery speech at the United Nations and a subsequent tweet, had declared war on the country.

So why did Choe meet with Burmistrov?

According to the Russian foreign ministry, Oleg Burmistrov holds the rank of a first-class plenipotentiary diplomat. He currently serves as