The procurement of Russian arms from Iran and North Korea heralds a growing convergence of military and diplomatic interests between Moscow and the two anti-Western and IC-sanctioned countries.
Washington has accused Russia of procuring large quantities of artillery ammunition from Pyongyang, as well as missiles and drones which it is already purchasing from Iran.
According to an expert interviewed by The Guardian, Russia may seek to stabilize its domestic production and supply of artillery shells by seeking ammunition from North Korea and elsewhere. This is to allow its factories to catch up with production.
The Kremlin's efforts to procure weapons suggest that Russia plans to continue fighting in Ukraine until next year, despite numerous setbacks in the eastern Donbas region and southern Ukraine.
The latest US intelligence assessment of Russian attempts to procure artillery from North Korea surfaced yesterday. Pyongyang, analysts argue, could try to disguise the dispatch of arms supplies across countries in the Middle East and Africa.
"Our information indicates that North Korea is secretly supplying the Russian war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells. Korea covers the true destination of arms shipments by sending them to third countries in the Middle East or North Africa "he told reporters John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council.
Although Kirby has not named transit countries, North Korea certainly supplies Iran with weapons. Among other things, the two countries also collaborate in the development of missiles.
North Korea is a formidable arms factory for Russia as it produces weapons of the same caliber for North Korean variants of Soviet-era systems. To date, Pyongyang holds large stocks in its warehouses.
In addition to well-established routes for arms supply through the Middle East and Africa, North Korea also has good rail links to the Russian Far East via its northern city of Tumangang, Khasan.
Although North Korea's arms sales are covered by UN sanctions - theoretically backed by Moscow - Pyongyang has managed to continue supplying arms.
"North Korea's weapons are on the move“He told the Guardian Jack watling, a senior researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, "via routes already established to Iran." "The Russians are running out of 122mm artillery shells and North Korea has a sizeable supply of that ammunition "
"What Russia is trying to do is stabilize its ammunition supply over the winter to bridge the gap until its industrial base can start producing regularly.“Adds Watling.
And while the convergence of Russian and Iranian interests - not least because of their joint military support to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria - has been well documented, now North Korea has also joined the anti-Western axis. .
Pyongyang was one of the few countries to recognize Moscow's attempted illegal annexation of four regions of Ukraine. Russia, in turn, used its veto at the UN Security Council earlier this year to block new sanctions against North Korea.
I think tanks Asians, speculating on the growing cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, have suggested that, in addition to likely benefiting from money transfers from Russia, North Korea could receive technology and materials from Moscow to expand its missile programs which are, as is known, under UN sanctions.
The public statements of Putin and the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, mentioned their common desire to expand their "bilateral relations in a comprehensive and constructive manner".
A consequence of the increasingly close relationship - away from Ukraine's frontline - has been the growing sense of impunity North Korea enjoys as it continues to escalate tensions in the Asian area with a series of frightening ballistic missile launches. South Korea and Japan.