After decades, Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit North Korea soon. This was stated by the Russian ambassador to North Korea to a Russian newspaper.

The Kremlin has not explicitly confirmed this, but says Russia wants to build a partnership “in all areas,” without providing further clarification on what that means.

According to the Russian ambassador to North Korea, preparations are currently underway for the visit. The exact date is not yet known. Russian newspaper Vedomosti believes the meeting may take place this month.

Russia is one of North Korea’s most important allies. The first and last time Putin visited the country was in 2000. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has visited Russia before. The last time was in September last year. Putin is said to have promised North Korea submarines, Russian satellite technology and food.

The Russian President has strengthened relations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un since the beginning of the war with Ukraine. According to Vedomosti, Putin will discuss whether North Korea will send migrant workers to Russia during his visit. Due to the war, Russia suffers from a major labor shortage.

Since the war, there have also been strong suspicions that Kim is supplying weapons to Russia. According to the United States and Ukraine, they have also been deployed on the battlefield. Russia has so far refused to confirm or deny this.

Putin’s visit to the friendly dictatorship comes as rivals North and South Korea are embroiled in a heated dispute over balloons. South Korean activists fill it with propaganda, US dollars, and pop music and then release it to North Korea.

They’ve been doing this for decades, but North Korea recently sent out balloons filled with waste and sometimes feces. In response, South Korea decided to turn on its loudspeakers again after years of broadcasting messages critical of the North Korean regime. Huge speakers are directed towards North Korea and can be heard twenty kilometers from the border.

Balloons bombing each other may seem childish, but the current tensions between the two Koreas are certainly a cause for concern. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned today of a “harbinger of a dangerous situation.” Last week, South Korea also suspended a military pact as a result of the balloon campaign.