Analysts believe that the meetings between Russian officials and representatives from China and North Korea regarding cooperation between the countries serve as evidence of this.
On February 28, Secretary of the Security Council and former Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergey Shoigu, met with the President of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Xi Jinping, and the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, "to discuss bilateral security issues and international and regional matters."
"Shoigu and Xi also emphasized the necessity of continuing to coordinate efforts on major international platforms, including the [international association of countries] BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), as well as diplomatic efforts to address the 'Ukrainian crisis,'" the report states.
According to Shoigu, relations between Russia and China have reached "unprecedented" heights.
Earlier, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, met in Moscow with a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), Ri Hyong-yon, to "strengthen cooperation with the WPK and expand contracts and exchanges in all areas." Putin met with Ri on February 27, but the Kremlin did not disclose this, analysts report. On the same day, according to them, representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Kursk region signed an agreement with their counterparts from Pyongyang "on the development of bilateral economic relations and expanding municipal production capabilities between enterprises in the Kursk region and North Korea," strengthening trade and economic ties, cooperation in industry, agriculture, and processing, as well as joint logistics projects.