Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in North Korea for a two-day state visit.

Putin was received by North Korea’s ruler Kim Jong Un at the airport in Pyongyang, the Russian news agency Interfax reported on Wednesday.

According to observers, the two-day visit will also focus on further arms deliveries from Pyongyang, which Moscow intends to use in its war against Ukraine.

The main part of the visit begins on Wednesday.

The day would begin with a meeting between Putin and Kim on Kim Il Sung Square, Pyongyang’s urban and symbolic centre.

Putin praises North Korea’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine

Long negotiations were then planned, first in one-on-one talks, then on a larger scale.

In addition to several meals together, a wreath-laying ceremony and a joint concert visit have also been announced.

The last time Putin was in North Korea was in 2000, when he was received by Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il.

He said after a long break in the relationship, the two countries have recently moved closer together not least because of the Ukraine war.

Putin is on his first trip to the North Korean capital in 24 years, a visit likely to reshape decades of Russia-North Korea relations at a time when both countries face international isolation.

The countries’ partnership is an “engine for accelerating the building of a new multi-polar world” and Putin’s visit demonstrates the invincibility and durability of their friendship and unity, North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said.

Russia has used its warming ties with North Korea to needle Washington, while heavily sanctioned North Korea has won political backing and promises of economic support and trade from Moscow.

The United States and its allies say they fear Russia could provide aid for North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs, which are banned by U.N. Security Council resolutions, and have accused Pyongyang of providing ballistic missiles and artillery shells that Russia has used in its war in Ukraine.

Moscow and Pyongyang have denied weapons transfers.

Kim greeted Putin, shaking hands, embracing and talking beside the Russian leader’s plane. The pair then rode in Putin’s Russian-made Aurus limousine to the Kumsusan State Guest House.