Putin and Kim Jong-un during the official welcome ceremony in Pyongyang, North Korea. “We highly appreciate your consistent and unwavering support for Russian policy, including in the Ukrainian direction,” Putin said, according to the Russian state news agency RIA. In return, Kim is understood to have sought Russian food and energy aid, and help with his country’s space programme. The alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said Putin’s trip showed he was “dependent” on authoritarian leaders in countries such as North Korea, Iran and China. The Israeli prime minister is expected to hold consultations about the Gaza war with a small group of ministers.
