SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday hailed North Korea for “firmly supporting” Moscow’s war in Ukraine ahead of a visit to Pyongyang set to boost defense ties between the two nuclear-armed countries.

Putin is scheduled to touch down on Tuesday night for his first trip to the isolated nation in 24 years, with a confrontation between North and South Korean troops on their shared border highlighting regional security tensions.

Moscow and Pyongyang have been allies since North Korea’s founding after World War II, and they have drawn even closer since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to the West isolating Putin internationally.

The United States and its allies have accused North Korea of supplying Russia with much-needed arms, including ballistic missiles to use in Ukraine.

The North has denied giving Russia military hardware but, ahead of his trip, Putin thanked Kim Jong Un’s government for helping the war effort.

“We highly appreciate that the DPRK (North Korea) is firmly supporting the special military operations of Russia being conducted in Ukraine,” Putin wrote in an article published by Pyongyang’s state media on Tuesday.

Russia and the North are “now actively developing the many-sided partnership,” Putin wrote.