Vladimir Putin has praised North Korea for “firmly supporting” Moscow’s war in Ukraine ahead of his first visit to Pyongyang in over two decades.

“We highly appreciate that the DPRK (North Korea) is firmly supporting the special military operations of Russia being conducted in Ukraine,” the Russian leader wrote in an article carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Putin is set to arrive in the isolated North late on Tuesday evening with a large delegation of ministers in a trip suspected to be about securing more munitions for his war on Ukraine.

The trip “will put bilateral cooperation onto a higher level with our joint efforts and this will contribute to developing reciprocal and equal cooperation between Russia and the DPRK,” the Russian leader wrote.

Western intelligence agencies believe that North Korea has become a key munitions supplier to Russia, with satellite images suggesting a massive uptick in shipping between two remote harbours on the Sea of Japan.

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