Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un began summit talks in Pyongyang on Wednesday, with both leaders intent on bolstering their relations as they confront the West. 

Putin arrived in North Korea in the early hours of Wednesday on his first trip to Russia’s isolated eastern neighbor in 24 years.

“The situation in the world is becoming more complicated and changing rapidly,” Russia’s TASS state news agency cited Kim as saying. “In this situation, we intend to further strengthen strategic contacts with Russia, with the Russian leadership.”

Putin told Kim he appreciated North Korean support on Ukraine adding that a new fundamental document has been prepared that would form the long-term basis of their relations, Russia’s RIA Novosti reported.

“We very much appreciate your systematic and permanent support of Russian policy, including on the Ukrainian issue,” Russian media quoted Putin as telling Kim at the start of their meeting, AFP reported. 

“Russia and North Korea have been tied for several decades by a solid friendship and close neighborhood [relations],” said Putin who heralded bilateral cooperation “based on the principles of equality and mutual respect of interests”.

North Korea has supplied Russia with large amounts of weapons for its war in Ukraine, in particular artillery rounds and ballistic missiles, the United States has said, though both Russia and North Korea deny that.

In exchange for its weapons, North Korea is suspected of getting Russian  technological assistance for its space program. In May, the North’s attempt to launch a military spy satellite ended in failure with the rocket exploding on liftoff. But in November last year, North Korea successfully placed a spy satellite into orbit, and it had planned to launch three more satellites in 2024.

Both Russia and North Korea have faced heavy sanctions, the former for its invasion of Ukraine and the latter for its development of nuclear bombs and the missiles to deliver them around the world.

In an apparent reference to the sanctions, Putin, in a commentary published on the eve of his visit in North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper, called for unity in resisting “illegal and unilateral restrictions”, while vowing to build alternative systems for trade and settlements with North Korea out of the control of the West.

Earlier, the two leaders took part in a welcome ceremony at Pyongyang’s massive Kim Il Sung Square, complete with an honor guard and buildings bedecked with the countries’  flags and huge portraits of the two men, pictures in Russian state media showed.

Citizens in red, white and blue shirts waved flowers and flags as the two leaders passed by, standing in an open-top limousine.

Putin’s trip is a rare visit by a foreign leader to North Korea and boosts a relationship that offers Pyongyang an alternative to its close ties to Beijing, analysts say.

It is Putin’s first trip to North Korea since July 2000, when he met the then leader, Kim Jong-il, the late father of the current leader. It also comes nine months after Kim traveled to Russia’s Far East for a summit with Putin.

North Korea and the former Soviet Union signed a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance in 1961 which included a provision for so called automatic military intervention, under which if one side is under armed attack, the other provides troops and other aid without hesitation.

North Korea and Russia signed a new treaty of bilateral ties in 2000, but it did not contain such a provision as it centered on economic, scientific and cultural cooperation.

Experts said the two leaders could discuss  North Korean workers going to Russia. The North is desperate for foreign currency due to the international sanctions, while Russia has been facing a labor shortage exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.

Edited by RFA Staff.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.