How Putin Rebuilt Russia’s War Machine With Help From U.S. Adversaries

Russia’s military cooperation with Iran, North Korea and China has expanded into the sharing of sensitive technologies that could threaten the U.S. and its allies long after the Ukraine war ends, according to U.S. defense and intelligence officials.

The speed and depth of the expanding security ties involving the U.S. adversaries has at times surprised American intelligence analysts. Russia and the other nations have set aside historic frictions to collectively counter what they regard as a U.S.-dominated global system, they said.

In a sign of the closer military relations, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un said Wednesday in Pyongyang that they had struck a deal to provide mutual aid if either country was attacked, describing the relationship as an alliance between the two authoritarian nations.