By Athena Papakosta

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in North Korea amid US warnings against any deal that could increase military pressure against Ukraine, as well as tension on the Korean peninsula.

Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin last met last September at Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome, but this is the first state visit by the Russian president to the country since July 2000shortly after he first became president.

A red carpet was rolled out at Pyongyang airport with the North Korean leader hugging and kissing the Russian president crosswise.

The two leaders had a short meeting renewing their appointment for today and signing agreements with the aim of further strengthening the ties of the two countries which, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have already strengthened.

The Kremlin described the trip as a “friendly state visit”, with Russian media reporting that Putin and Kim may sign a security cooperation agreement and then make joint statements.

Both the United States and South Korea accuse North Korea of ​​supplying “dozens of ballistic missiles and over 11,000 containers of ammunition to Russia” for use in Ukraine, while the North Korean leader has reportedly requested food aid from Vladimir Putin and help for the energy sector and for his country’s space program.

Both countries deny signing any deal nine months ago, but on the eve of his arrival in the country the Russian president thanked Kim Jong Un for his “unwavering support”.

“We particularly appreciate that North Korea firmly supports Russia’s special military operations in Ukraine,” Putin specifically wrote in an article published by the official North Korean newspaper Rodong Shinmun.

North Korea’s state news agency KCNA stressed that Putin’s visit proves that ties between the two nations are “growing stronger with each passing day” and will give “new breath to the development of cooperative relations” between the two countries.

The White House stressed that the US is concerned about the close ties between Russia and North Korea.

“We are not concerned about Putin’s trip,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday. “What concerns us is the deepening of the relationship between the two countries,” he added.

According to analysts, Vladimir Putin is trying to dispel the narrative that the West managed to isolate his country.

The Russian president is accompanied on his trip to Pyongyang by, among others, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Defense of the country, Andrei Belusov, the heads of the Russian space service and the country’s railways and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government, Alexander Novak .

Vladimir Putin will then travel to Vietnam where the two countries are expected to discuss trade issues.