Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in North Korea for his first visit to the country in 24 years, according to Russian state media, after vowing to take ties with Pyongyang to new heights to jointly resist what he called the United States’ “global neo-colonial dictatorship.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un greeted the Russian president on the airport tarmac early Wednesday local time, according to Russia’s official news agency.
Video footage released later by the Kremlin showed Putin arriving in North Korea in the early hours of the morning, stepping off a plane and hugging the waiting North Korean leader on a red carpet flanked by uniformed guards. Kim Jong-un ushered Putin into a Russian-made Aurus limousine that Putin had given him last year.
The war in Ukraine has brought Putin and Kim Jong-un closer. Kim Jong-un has pledged to MoscowOpened up a huge arsenalthereby winning a new status in the Kremlin.
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Nine months ago, the two men met at a Russian cosmodrome to toast their “holy struggle” against the West after Kim arrived in Russia’s Far East by armored train. The North Korean leader invited Putin to return the favor during a tour of sensitive Russian rocket and fighter jet facilities.
Now, the Russian president has accepted his offer. The deepening relationship between the two authoritarian leaders poses a particular challenge to Washington. The United States once relied on Moscow’s cooperation to curb North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. Now, the United States faces a Kremlin intent on undermining American geopolitical interests around the world.
Images released by Russian state media showed huge Russian flags and portraits of a smiling Putin lined the streets of Pyongyang to welcome the Russian leader.
What does Russia want?
Prior to the trip, Putin issued an order authorizing the conclusion of a new “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty with North Korea.
He also wrote in the North’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper that he praised Kim for resisting “economic pressure, provocation, blackmail and military threats from the United States” and thanked Pyongyang for its strong support for Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Defeating Ukraine has been the guiding principle of Russian foreign policy for more than two years, and Putin’s top priority on this trip will be to ensure North Korea’s continued cooperation in helping him achieve his goals on the battlefield.
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North Korea is one of the poorest and most isolated countries in the world, butIts military is one of the largest in the world.
It is unclear exactly what level of military aid North Korea is providing to Moscow’s war effort. Many analysts believe the assistance is meaningful because Russian forces need more and more ammunition in their war of attrition against Kiev. Russian forces have made recent gains on Ukrainian territory in part because they have more ammunition to expend.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-seok last weekInterviewed by BloombergSeoul has tracked at least 10,000 containers bound for Russia from North Korea that could hold as many as 4.8 million artillery shells, said Shi, who expects Putin to make more requests during his visit.

Before Kim Jong Un visited Russia last year, U.S. intelligence agencies reported that Moscow had purchased millions of artillery shells from North Korea. The U.S. has since accused Russia at the United Nations of launching multiple North Korean ballistic missiles into Ukraine.
But questions have also arisen about the quality of North Korea’s supplies.expressLast winter, Russia launched about 50 North Korean ballistic missiles at Ukrainian territory, with a high failure rate.
Booming relations with Moscow have paid dividends for Pyongyang.vetoRussia has extended the mandate of a U.N. panel of experts that has been reviewing North Korea’s sanctions violations for 15 years. The move highlights a dramatic shift in Russia’s stance toward Pyongyang, after years of playing a role in U.N. disarmament efforts for North Korea.
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According to ReutersIn a statement released before the end of their mandate, U.N. monitors confirmed that debris from a January attack on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv came from North Korean missiles and said the arms transfer violated a U.N. arms embargo on Pyongyang that bans the import and export of weapons.
Putin is unlikely to acknowledge that any ammunition or weapons were shipped during the visit. Russia has consistently denied any military transfers that violate UN embargoes.
The two leaders will discuss energy, transport, agriculture, economics and security issues during the visit, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters at a news conference on Monday.
Putin is also set to visit Vietnam later this week, a sign that the Kremlin is vying with the United States for interests in countries where the United States has been working to improve bilateral relations.President Biden visited last SeptemberVietnam.
What does North Korea want?
Kim, whose grandfather came to power in 1948 with Moscow’s support and founded North Korea, has been steadily expanding his arsenal of high-end weapons and increasingly turning to the Kremlin for help.
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Warming relations between Moscow and Pyongyang have led to a move aimed at curbing North Korea’s nuclear and missile ambitions.International efforts break downand raises questions about how future sanctions will be enforced.
Since the two leaders met last year, people have been asking what exactly Kim Jong Un is getting in return for providing Moscow with badly needed ballistic missiles and artillery shells.
If nothing else, the conflict gives Pyongyang a rare opportunity to assess how its missiles perform in actual combat and potentially refine their design.
North Korea also wants to gain more of Russia’s cutting-edge military technology, including its extensive satellite knowledge. Two months after Kim Jong-un visited Russia last year, North KoreaThe first military reconnaissance satelliteSouth Korean officials said the launch was carried out with technical assistance from Moscow.
Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal and one of the most advanced submarine programs, as well as a host of other technologies that North Korea is interested in. Despite years of efforts by Washington and the United Nations to disarm North Korea, Pyongyang has conducted six nuclear tests and developed an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.
Isolated from the rest of the world by international sanctions, North Korea has a range of needs outside the military sphere that Moscow can help meet. South Korean officials say Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, is providing North Korea with food and raw materials, as well as parts needed for weapons manufacturing.
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In an article published in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper ahead of his trip, Putin said Moscow would support North Korea in its fight against a “cunning, dangerous and aggressive enemy” by deepening economic ties and establishing a new trade settlement system free from U.S. interference.
Ushakov said Russia’s trade with North Korea reached $34.4 million in 2023, nine times the previous year. He said the summit would discuss restoring humanitarian ties, which were interrupted during the coronavirus pandemic due to North Korea’s strict regulations.