Russia is quietly boosting economic support for North Korea to try to stymie any U.S.-led push to oust Kim Jong Un, as Moscow fears his fall would sap its regional clout and allow U.S. troops to deploy on Russia's eastern border.
Though Moscow wants to try to improve battered U.S.-Russia relations in the increasingly slim hope of relief from Western sanctions over Ukraine, it remains strongly opposed to what it sees as Washington's meddling in other countries' affairs.
Russia is already angry about a buildup of U.S.-led NATO forces on its western borders in Europe and does not want any replication on its Asian flank.