No doubt, the top priority behind the new-found friendship between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un is arms supplies. The Russian armed forces has a great need for conventional artillery ammunition and missiles in the war against Ukraine.

The West—the US, the EU, Germany, Japan, Australia and many other countries—are courting the Indian government and vying for India's partnership, for the closest possible political and economic relations.

Russia's aggression against Ukraine in February two years ago was a shock to European security policy. It did not come entirely out of the blue, however, because Russia had already annexed Crimea in 2014 in violation of international law. But the great rupture in European security architecture happened in February 2022.