By Mark Trevelyan and Alexander Marrow (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin met North Korea's foreign minister in the Kremlin on Monday at a time of mounting concern in the West that North Korean soldiers are about to enter the Ukraine war on Moscow's side.

The upper house of Russian parliament has ratified a treaty with North Korea envisioning mutual military assistance.

If there are images they are a reflection of something,” he said in a tongue-in-cheek answer to whether Pyongyang had sent troops to help with Russia’s war in Ukraine.