Vladimir Putin’s journey to Pyongyang to meet fellow dictator Kim Jong-un is emblematic of the Russian leader’s isolation. Just 10 years ago, he was attending meetings of the G8 (now the G7) and rubbing shoulders with the leaders of the world’s richest nations. Now he has to go cap in hand to the pariah state of North Korea to seek both support for his war in Ukraine and the weapons to pursue it.

Russia’s military cooperation with Iran, North Korea and China has expanded into the sharing of sensitive technologies that could threaten the U.S. and its allies long after the Ukraine war ends, according to U.S. defense and intelligence officials.

The speed and depth of the expanding security ties involving the U.S. adversaries has at times surprised American intelligence analysts. Russia and the other nations have set aside historic frictions to collectively counter what they regard as a U.S.-dominated global system, they said.

It must be somebody pretty important in your life to warrant a personal airport pickup at 3 a.m. But that’s the honor North Korean “Supreme Leader” Kim Jong Un paid to Vladimir Putin on Wednesday morning, greeting the Russian President on a red carpet-laid runway in the wee hours and then riding with him through Pyongyang streets festooned with roses and murals of his stout, balding guest, whom Kim had earlier hailed as an “invincible comrade-in-arms.”

North Korea and Russia have pledged to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance in the event the other is attacked, according to the text of a new landmark defense pact agreed by the two autocratic nations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed the new strategic partnership agreement Wednesday in Pyongyang during a rare state visit by the Russian leader who described the deal as a “new level” in bilateral relations.

Vladimir Putin said Russia and North Korea have ramped up ties to a “new level,” pledging to help each other if either nation is attacked a “breakthrough” new partnership announced during the Russian president’s rare visit to the reclusive state.

Thousands of North Koreans chanting “welcome Putin” lined the city’s wide boulevards brandishing Russian and North Korean flags and bouquets of flowers, as Putin kicked off his first visit to North Korea in 24 years.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a pact that includes a vow of mutual aid if either country is attacked after a two-hour one-on-one meeting on Wednesday.

The deal, described as a "comprehensive strategic partnership", will replace treaties from 1961 and 2000-2001, Russian state-owned news agency Tass reported.

At a press conference after the signing, Kim called the agreement the "strongest treaty ever" between the two countries.

Vladimir Putin has signed a new defence pact with North Korea that includes a vow of “mutual aid” if either is attacked.

Describing the agreement with Kim Jong-un as a “comprehensive partnership treaty”, Putin said that the document “provides for mutual assistance in case of aggression against one of the parties”.

It was not clear what kind of assistance the deal involves.

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed on Tuesday to deepen trade and security ties with North Korea and to support it against the United States, as he headed to the reclusive nuclear-armed country for the first time in 24 years.

The U.S. and its Asian allies are trying to work out just how far Russia will go in support of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whose country is the only one to have conducted nuclear weapon tests in the 21st century.

Vladimir Putin will travel to North Korea this week as he seeks continued military support for the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine from one of the world’s most isolated nations.

In his first visit to North Korea since 2000, Putin will meet Kim Jong-un for one-on-one talks in Pyongyang as the two leaders pledge to expand their security and economic cooperation in defiance of western sanctions against both countries.