Assessments of the recent summit between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin will inevitably depend on the vantage point from which one observes it.

From the vantage point of North Korean interests, the summit did not result in promises to defy sanctions, nor did it necessarily break China’s de facto monopoly of influence as the DPRK’s most important international partner.

From the Russian end, however, the summit provided Moscow with a deeper, if somewhat symbolic mark of influence in the DPRK and the Korean security crisis. Where the Kremlin may have fallen short of advancing its interests diplomatically, it has