The green train carrying North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong Un has crossed into Russia on Tuesday morning, hours after Kremlin confirmed that President Vladimir Putin will hold an one-to-one meeting with the Kim.
Though Kremlin has not revealed the agenda of the meeting, reports quoting analysts claim Russia aims to procure military equipment from North Korea in exchange for technology and food aid. United States’ National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said recently that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu travelled to Pyongyang last month and tried to persuade North Korea to sell artillery ammunition to Russia.
Top arms industry and military officials are reportedly accompanying Kim to Russia. The US has also issued repeated warnings to North Korea against supplying arms to Russia.
But what weapons could North Korea supply Russia? Regional analysts believe North Korea, one of the most heavily militarised countries in the world, owns a large stockpile of artillery shells and rockets and would likely offer Russia bullets, shells and even old missiles. "The most likely weapons they'll offer Russia are bullets, shells, and even old missiles," Kim Dong-yup, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, told the BBC.
He added that handing these older munitions to Russia will not dampen the North's defence capabilities as it seems to have manufactured new weapons at a recent military parade. The fact that much of Pyongyang's firearms are compatible with Soviet-era weapons would help Russia's cause.
"The size of these stores and its degradation over time is less clear, as is the scale of ongoing production, but these stockpiles could help replenish those severely depleted in Ukraine," said Joseph Dempsey, a defence researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Though Moscow and Pyongyang have denied that North Korea would supply arms to Russia, the makeup of Kim's delegation say otherwise. The prominent among them is Munitions Industry Department Director Jo Chun Ryong. "The presence of Jo Chun Ryong indicates that North Korea and Russia will conclude some type of agreement for munitions purchases," said Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the Washington-based Stimson Center, told Reuters.
However, analysts believe that it is unlikely to change the outcome of the war though it may prolong the conflict. Reason: The weapons owned by North Korea are less advanced. "North Korea's offering is likely to be less high-tech but accessing those stocks would likely significantly increase Russia's capabilities in the short term, while North Korean production lines would help in the longer term,"said Siemon Wezeman, of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
"Almost none of the ammunition is in any way 'advanced' - it would feed the traditional Russian barrage type use of artillery but not provide Russia with any precision ammunition," he said.