THE White House announced Wednesday that it has new information showing that Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un they exchanged letters as Russia seeks ammunition and raw materials from North Korea about the war in Ukraine.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday addressed the issue, a few weeks after the White House said that during a recent visit to Pyongyang, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called on North Korean officials to increase the sale of munitions to Moscow as part of the Ukraine war.

Kirby said that Russia searches for additional artillery shells and other raw materials to support the Russian defense industrial base.

He added that the letters were “more on the surface” but that talks between Russia and North Korea for the sale of arms proceed. The leaders exchanged letters after Shoigu’s visit, he noted.

The Biden administration has repeatedly argued that the Kremlin now dependent on North Korea, as well as Iran, for the weapons he needs to fight the war against Ukraine. North Korea and Iran are largely isolated from the international community because of their nuclear programs and human rights records.

In March, the White House announced that it had gathered information indicating that Russia was trying to broker a food-for-arms trade deal with North Korea, in which Moscow would provide the North with essential food and other goods in exchange for munitions from Pyongyang.

Late last year, the White House said it had determined that the Wagner Group had received weapons from North Korea to help bolster its forces fighting in Ukraine on behalf of Russia.

Both North Korea and Russia have previously denied US claims of the weapons. Pyongyang, however, sided with Moscow in the war in Ukraine, insisting that its “hegemonic politics”.led by the US, the West forced Russia “to take military action to protect its security interests.”