Russia-North Korea trade hit a “record” $34 million in 2024 thanks to Moscow’s fuel deliveries and food exports, a Russian trade insider announced on Tuesday, speaking at an event aimed at boosting business ties with the DPRK.

But experts emphasized that the minuscule figure reflects limited opportunities for commercial cooperation between the two countries, while excluding billions of dollars in illicit military transfers over the war in Ukraine.

Evgeniy Nikiforov, an official overseeing international logistics at Russia’s Association of Exporters and Importers, said trade volume with North Korea reached its highest level since Soviet times last year, speaking at a