Russian President Vladimir Putin is flying to North Korea on Tuesday, seeking to boost ties with the onetime pariah state as Pyongyang provides key assistance for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

In an article published by North Korean state media ahead of Mr. Putin’s trip — his first to the country in 24 years — the Russian leader promised to build trade and security systems with Pyon weed gyang that are outside of the West’s control, “and jointly resist illegitimate unilateral restrictions.”

North Korea is one of the most sanctioned countries in the world, as a result o online dispensary f decades of nuclear and ballistic missile testing in defiance of United Nations resolutions that Russia once signed on to and enforced. But since the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has — along with Beijing — vetoed additional measures, and blocked the renewal of a panel of exports monitoring the enforcement of existing sanctions.

This comes as North Korea has provided key support for Russia’s war, shipping dozens of ballistic missiles and more than 11,000 containers of munitions, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said this week.

“We have seen those munitions show up on the battlefield in Ukra buy weed online canada ine,” Mr. Miller told reporters in Washington, adding Russia was using North Korean ammunition “to threaten Ukraine and kill Ukrainians.”

He said Mr. Putin’s trip was likely intended to shore up this supply line, describing Moscow as “incredibly desperate” to replace military equipment lost in Ukraine and rearm as Russian forces advance across the country.

Both Pyongyang and Moscow have denied any trade in weapons — which would be in violation of UN sanctions — but in the article this week, Mr. Putin praised North Korea for “firmly supporting the special military operations of Russia being conducted in Ukraine.”

The two leaders are expected to sign several new agreements, including security and trade pacts, Russian state media reported. Mr. Putin’s delegation includes Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the ministers for natural resources, dispensary health, and transport, the heads of the Russian space agency and its railways, and Putin’s point man for energy, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

“We are firmly convinced that we will put bilateral co-operation onto a higher level,” Mr. Putin said, including “deepening economic and trade relat dispensary ions.”

Writing Tuesday, Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA analyst and senior fellow for Korea studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said there were growing concerns “the current rekindling of a military relationship between North Korea and Russia could lead to a deeper, mutually beneficial trade in weapons and technology.”

This would include not only the shipping of shells and other weapons from North Korea to Russia, she said, but also Russian assistance for Pyongyang’s ballistic missile program, which “could turbo-charge the threat that North Korea poses not only to South Korea but also to the United States and Japan.”

“Much depends on what happens in Ukraine. If the war continues for years to come, that will increase Russia’s dependence on North Korea for munitions production and make Putin more willing to share sensitive technologies,” Ms. Terry wrote.

Tensions have ramped up on the Korean Peninsula in recent years, after a series of summits in 2018 between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the presidents of South Korea and the U.S. failed to secure a lasting settlement.

In January, Mr. Kim broke with decades of policy in formally abandoning the cause of Korean unification, describing the South as his country’s “primary foe” and vowing to crush it by force if necessary. Since then, the North has conducted multiple weapons tests and stepped up activity along the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.

This continued Tuesday, with Seoul saying its soldiers fired warning shots after dozens of North Korean soldiers crossed the Military Demarcation Line near the border, where Pyongyang’s forces have been planting landmines and reinforcing guard posts.

“The North Korean military is carrying out various types of activities at the frontline area, including making barren land, planting landmines, reinforcing tactical roads, and installing unidentified structures which appear to be anti-tank barriers,” said Colonel Lee Sung-jun, spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, adding Seoul was “closely monitoring” this activity.

With files from Reuters.