RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin said today that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would beat Western sanctions the two countries face through close co-operation.

Mr Putin’s comments, made in a letter, were reported by North Korean state media as he prepared to visit Pyongyang for a meeting with Mr Kim to discuss a deeper trade alliance.

The Russian leader, who is visiting the country for the first time in 24 years, praised North Korea’s support for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

He said the countries would continue to “resolutely oppose” what he described as Western ambitions “to hinder the establishment of a multipolar world order based on justice, mutual respect for sovereignty, considering each other’s interests.”

Mr Putin also said the two nations will develop trade and payment systems “that are not controlled by the West” and jointly oppose sanctions, which he described as “illegal, unilateral restrictions.”

“And at the same time — we will build an architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia,” he wrote.

North Korea is under heavy UN security council economic sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile programmes, while Russia has also been sanctioned by the US and its Western allies since the invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Putin — along with Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the heads of the Russian space agency — was expected to arrive in North Korea after the Morning Star went to print.

His foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said the two countries may sign a partnership agreement during the visit to “outline prospects for further co-operation.”

He said it “will be signed taking into account what has happened between our countries in recent years — in the field of international politics, in the field of economics ... including, of course, taking into account security issues.”

Meanwhile, in the war, Ukraine claimed responsibility for an overnight drone attack on a Russian oil facility that started a fire in the latest of long-range strikes by its forces.

Ukraine has been stepping up air strikes on Russian soil, targeting refineries and oil terminals and even striking a nuclear attack warning system.