VLADIMIR Putin has been helping Kim Jong-un by throwing him a lifeline in a bid to stop any plans by the US to oust the dictator, sources say amid fears of World War 3.
Insiders have revealed that Putin’s government is strongly opposed to what it sees as Washington meddling in other countries’ affairs.
It comes as Russia warned the US that imposing new sanctions against North Korea could be “counterproductive and dangerous”.
And earlier a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman accused the US of using the same open threats as North Korea.
Maria Zakharova said: “The paradox is that they are identical. It is an open threat of use of force from both sides.”
While Russia has an interest in protecting North Korea, which started life as a Soviet satellite state, it is not giving Pyongyang a free pass as it backed tougher UN sanctions last month over Kim’s recent nuclear test.
But at the same time, Moscow is playing a fraught double game, by quietly offering North Korea a slender lifeline to help insulate it from US-led efforts to isolate it economically.
Andrey Kortunov, head of the Russian International Affairs Council, a think-tank close to the Russian Foreign Ministry, said: “The Kremlin really believes the North Korean leadership should get additional assurances and confidence that the United States is not in the regime change business.
“The prospect of regime change is a serious concern. The Kremlin understands that Donald Trump is unpredictable.
“They felt more secure with Barack Obama that he would not take any action that would explode the situation, but with Trump they don’t know.”
Earlier this year North Korea accused the US’ CIA of plotting to kill Kim Jong-un with "biochemical substances" at it threatened a “counter-terrorist attack”.
According to diplomatic sources close to the Kremlin, the Russian governement is attempting to quietly boost economic support for North Korea to stablise Kim Jong-un's regime.
Russia, which shares a land border with North Korea, has also resisted US-led efforts to repatriate tens of thousands of North Korean workers, which reports have said are forced to pay parts of their salary towards Kim’s nuclear weapons programme.
A Russian company also began routing North Korean internet traffic earlier this month and a ferry service between North Korea and Russia's Vladivostock was launched in May.
It comes as Donald Trump continues to engage in a war of words with Kim Jong-un.
Earlier this week Trump declared that the time for talking with “Little Rocket Man” was over as he hinted at military action amid World War 3 fears.
The President tweeted: "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man.
"Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!"
North Korea later hit back on the 64th anniversary of the Mutual Defence Treaty between the US and Seoul accusing Washington of orchestrating an “invasion plot”.
Despotic leader Kim Jong-un used his puppet newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, to take aim at the treaty on Sunday.
The Rodong Sinmun described the agreement as: “A treaty embedded with a plot to actualise their delusion to invade North Korea.”
The paper added: "The Mutual Defence Treaty is explicitly implanted with the US' reckless ambition for invasion as it aims to trigger a war of invasion into North Korea at any time.
"The invasion war treaty should be abolished without delay."
The Mutual Defence Treaty states that if either the US or South Korea is faced with an external armed attack - the other will come to the attacked country’s aid.