The quid pro quo will be expensive, controversial, and a clear breach of international law. At a meeting later this month, likely to be in the Russian city of Vladivostock, president Vladimir Putin will ask North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-un for artillery shells and antitank missiles to stock his depleted armoury. In return, on what will be his first foreign trip since 2019, the North Korean leader wants Russian help to build its next generation of defence assets – advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines. North Korea made two failed attempts this year to launch a spy satellite into...