Firstly, Putin needs
ammunition to sustain his war machine in Ukraine.
“We have to remember that he started this
relationship based upon his need for artillery, ammunition and rockets for his
invasion of Ukraine and he will retain these needs for some time,” says Bruce
Bennett, a senior defence analyst at RAND Corp in the US.
Jeffrey Lewis, a North
Korea expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, agrees
saying: “Russia gets lots of cheap weapons, including ballistic missiles.”
Beyond defence,
strengthening relations with North Korea also plays into Putin’s efforts to undermine international sanctions, analysts say.
“Strengthening ties with
its old Cold War partner allows Russia to undermine the international sanctions
regime, counter any suggestion that the US and its allies have been able to
isolate Moscow, and also add to concerns in Washington that it may have to deal
with a materially strengthened North Korea,” says John Nilsson-Wright, head of
the Japan and Koreas Programme at Cambridge University’s Centre for Geopolitics.
