Kurt Campbell, the US deputy secretary of state, said China is being kept in the dark about the friendship between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin

Over the past decade, China has grown increasingly concerned about its waning leverage over North Korea and inability to restrain Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. These worries have only intensified with North Korea’s dramatic tightening of ties with Russia this year.

The United States has information that North Korea is preparing additional supplies of ballistic missiles to Russia, as well as long-range self-propelled artillery and multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS).