BBC
For months, Russia watchers have known President Vladimir Putin would be heading to North Korea.
After Kim Jong Un’s big green bulletproof train trundled around Russia’s Far East last year, the North Korean leader invited Mr Putin to visit him. That invitation was duly accepted.
But this long-expected visit is now said to be just days away: South Korean sources suggest it could be as soon as Tuesday, and satellite images have also spied apparent preparations under way in North Korea.
One thing is for sure: it has journalists both in Russia and abroad clamouring for any hint of news.
The Kremlin insists those details will come in due course, but speculation is now at fever point.
But why does it matter and why now?
Firstly, there is a natural curiosity given it would only be Mr Putin’s second time in North Korea – the first being in 2000 at the start of his presidential career, when Mr Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, was still supreme leader.
But beyond that, this is a relationship that (though not at the levels enjoyed during the Soviet Union) has now gone from mutual pleasantries to mutual benefits, and it has the West worried.
The Kremlin has said there is scope for “very deep relations” between Russia and North Korea, and although it said this shouldn’t concern anyone, it recommended those thinking of challenging the burgeoning ties to think again.
There has been a lot of speculation about what exactly the two sides want from one another. And it seems to boil down to security of supplies.
Russia is likely seeking ammunition, construction workers, even volunteers to go to the front line in Ukraine, says political scientist and Putin ally, Sergei Markov.
In reply, Pyongyang could get Russian produce, as well as technological help for military goals, including its long-range missile programme ultimately to be within striking distance of the US, Mr Markov adds.
