Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in North Korea on Wednesday morning, saying the two countries want to cooperate closely to deal with US-led sanctions in the face of growing confrontation with Washington.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met Putin at Pyongyang’s airport. They shook hands and hugged, and later Kim joined Putin’s car and personally drove him to the Kumsusan State Guest House in Pyongyang, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said. The agency called their meeting a historic event that demonstrates the “invincibility and durability” of the two countries’ friendship and unity.

Putin, visiting North Korea for the first time in 24 years, said in comments carried in state media hours before arriving there that he appreciated the country’s firm support for his military actions in Ukraine. The Kremlin plans to launch a full-scale invasion of the neighbouring country in 2022.

He said the country will continue to firmly oppose the ambitions of Western countries that impede the establishment of a multipolar world order based on justice, mutual respect for sovereignty and consideration of each other’s interests.

Putin’s visit comes amid growing concerns about an arms deal under which Pyongyang is providing Moscow with badly needed weapons to fuel Russia’s war in Ukraine in exchange for economic aid and technology transfers, increasing the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile programmes.

Streets in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, were decorated with portraits of Putin and Russian flags. A banner on one building read: “We warmly welcome the President of the Russian Federation.”

Putin also said in his published statement that Russia and North Korea would develop trade and payment systems “that would not be controlled by the West” and that they would jointly oppose sanctions against these countries, which he described as “illegal, unilateral sanctions.”

North Korea is subject to heavy economic sanctions from the United Nations Security Council over its nuclear weapons and missile programmes, while Russia is also battling sanctions from the United States and its Western allies over its aggression in Ukraine.

Putin said that the two countries will also increase cooperation in the fields of tourism, culture and education.

Before heading to North Korea, Putin visited the eastern Russian city of Yakutsk, where he met regional governor Asen Nikolayev and received information on technology and defense-related projects. He also met with young professionals working in Russia’s Far East.

According to Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, Putin is accompanied by a number of top officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He said several documents would be signed during the visit, possibly including an agreement on a comprehensive strategic partnership.

US and South Korean officials say military, economic and other exchanges between North Korea and Russia have increased sharply since Kim met Putin in the Russian Far East in September, their first meeting since 2019.

US and South Korean officials have accused North Korea of ​​providing Russia with artillery, missiles and other military equipment for use in Ukraine, possibly receiving vital military technology and assistance in return. Both Pyongyang and Moscow deny allegations of arms transfers by North Korea, which would violate several UN Security Council sanctions that Russia has previously supported.

Russia, along with China, has provided political patronage to Kim’s continued efforts to expand his nuclear arsenal, and has repeatedly blocked U.S.-led efforts to impose new U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its weapons tests.

In March, Russia’s veto at the United Nations ended monitoring of UN sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program, leading Western nations to accuse Moscow of trying to evade scrutiny by buying weapons from Pyongyang for use in Ukraine. US and South Korean officials have said they are discussing options for a new mechanism to monitor North Korea.

Earlier this year, Putin sent Kim a high-end Aurus Senate limousine, which he showed off when he met the North Korean leader in September. Observers said the shipment violated a UN resolution banning the supply of luxury goods to North Korea.

In Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Putin’s visit to North Korea showed how Russia “is, in desperation, trying to develop and strengthen ties with countries that can provide it with what it needs to continue the aggressive war it has launched against Ukraine.”

“North Korea is providing Russia with significant quantities of ammunition … and other weapons for use in Ukraine. Iran is providing weapons, including drones, which have been used against civilians and civilian infrastructure,” Blinken told reporters after a meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday.

Stoltenberg reiterated his concern about “potential support Russia could provide to North Korea to support its missile and nuclear programs.”

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Lim Soosuk said Seoul stressed to Moscow that any cooperation between Russia and North Korea “should not proceed in a direction that violates U.N. Security Council resolutions or undermines peace and stability in the region.”

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest level in years, with Kim’s weapons tests and the pace of joint military exercises pitting the United States, South Korea and Japan against each other.

South Korea’s military said troops fired warning shots to repel North Korean troops who temporarily crossed the land border on Tuesday, the second time this month that troops have done so by mistake.

Putin has been trying to rebuild ties with Pyongyang as part of his country’s efforts to restore influence and Soviet-era alliances. Moscow’s ties with North Korea weakened after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Kim Jong Un first met Putin in Russia’s eastern port of Vladivostok in 2019.

After North Korea, Putin will also travel to Vietnam for talks that are expected to focus on trade, the Kremlin said. The United States, which has spent years strengthening ties and boosting trade with Vietnam, has criticised Putin’s planned trip.

“As Russia seeks international support to continue its illegal and brutal war against Ukraine, we reiterate that no country should provide Putin with a platform to promote his aggressive war, nor allow him to normalize his atrocities,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam said in a statement.