Peter Beaumont
The Guardian, Nov. 7, 2022
“… while the convergence of Russian and Iranian interests – not least over their joint military support for the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria – has been well documented, North Korea has now been drawn more closely into that axis.”
Russian arms procurement from Iran and North Korea heralds an increasing convergence of military and diplomatic interests between Moscow and two countries regarded as international pariahs.
Amid renewed accusations from Washington that Russia is attempting to procure large amounts of artillery ammunition from Pyongyang, on top of the missiles and kamikaze and other drones it has already bought from Iran, Moscow’s arms procurement blitz has flagged up the mounting logistical problems in Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.
According to one expert interviewed by the Guardian, Russia may be seeking to stabilise its production and supply of key artillery shells during the coming winter by seeking ammunition from North Korea and elsewhere, to allow its factories to catch up with production.
The Kremlin’s continuing urgent efforts to source weapons suggest that Russia envisages fighting continuing in Ukraine well into next year despite numerous a series of recent battlefield setbacks for its forces in the eastern Donbas region and southern Ukraine.
The latest US intelligence assessment on Russian attempts to procure artillery from North Korea emerged on Wednesday, which suggested that Pyongyang may be attempting to disguise weapons supplies through countries in the Middle East and elsewhere. …Source