Russia's leadership is working on agreements with North Korea on providing the wares for its war against Ukraine that Russia is "unable to produce or to acquire through other means" due to export controls and sanctions, according to the U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price.
Russia may be turning to countries like Iran and North Korea "out of desperation," but "it doesn't make it any less dangerous," said Price.
On Oct. 4, the North Korean Foreign Ministry supported sham referendums that Russia had held in the occupied Ukrainian territories on Sept. 23-27, claiming they were organized "in keeping with the U.N. Charter."
On Sept. 6, U.S. intelligence reported that North Korea was selling artillery millions of artillery shells and rockets to Russia, which a North Korean official later denied.
