Russia’s defence minister has pledged to boost military ties with North Korea after meeting Kim Jong-un on a rare high-level visit to the reclusive nuclear-armed regime.

Sergei Shoigu, the general charged with overseeing the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, is joining a Chinese delegation in Pyongyang this week to mark 70 years since the signing of the armistice that brought a truce to 1950-53 Korean war – an occasion known as “Victory Day” in the North.

Walking past huge intercontinental ballistic missiles and previously unseen military drones, Kim gave Russia’s minister a tour of North Korea’s newest and most advanced weaponry onThursday, state media reported.

After Washington earlier this year accused Pyongyang of supplying Moscow with weapons for its war in Ukraine, photographs in state media showed Kim walking Mr Shoigu through a vast defence exhibition showcasing the North’s nuclear missiles and what Seoul-based specialist site NK News said were new unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).