Inside Putin’s crunch summit with Kim-Jong un as Moscow desperately tries to find more weapons for failing Ukraine war

TWO nuclear-armed tyrants shaking hands on Russian soil may send a surge of terror through the brave hearts of Ukraine.

But the prospect of a meeting between North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin is a desperate sign from Moscow.

Putin is low on guns and ammo.

If US officials are right, the world’s most reclusive dictator will leave North Korea on an armoured train to meet the world’s most reviled dictator in eastern Russia this month.

There will only be one thing on the agenda at the Global Outcasts Club: Weapons.

Putin desperately needs Pyongyang to sell him weapons and ammunition.

After 19 months of slaughter, Moscow’s pre-war stockpiles are all but exhausted. Russia, like Ukraine, is desperately sourcing shells from allies.

This war, like countless before, will come down to resources: Hot bodies and cold steel.

General Sir Richard Barrons, an ex-commander of UK Joint Forces, said the conflict had reached a point where “both sides are short”.

He added: “Both are transitioning from stocks to manufacture. You may start a war with regular forces and things you have on the shelf, but you fight it and finish it by mobilising of civil society, that is people and industry.”

He said the scramble for supplies had echoes of The Great War, adding: “The First World War started in summer of 1914. It was a surprise. By April 1915 everyone had used up all their stuff and most of their regular forces. They had to go through two to three years of rebuilding.

“For the Western allies, it took until 1917 to be competent and big enough. We are doing that again.”

Putin first turned to China to replenish his stockpiles — but President Xi Jinping rebuffed him.

Iran was more willing. Tehran has already sent Russia kamikaze Shahed drones which hammered Ukraine’s heating and electricity network.

Russia has ramped up its domestic production but is struggling to build its most advanced missiles as they need hi-tech imported parts.

Ukraine has also turned to allies with constant and urgent requests for weapons.

Since the start of the war, Kyiv has had 4,500 armoured vehicles, 2,000 kamikaze drones, 600 tanks, 700 heavy artillery guns, 45 fighter jets and 85 helicopters.

President Volodymyr Zelensky wants more, including US-made F-16 jets. But Nato stockpiles are low too.

The Sun revealed Britain gave Ukraine all 30 of its working AS90 tracked artillery guns this year.

Army chief General Sir Patrick Sanders said there was “no better cause” than donating a squadron of 14 Challenger 2 tanks to the war-torn nation, but warned it would “leave us temporarily weaker as an Army”.

Downing Street pledged to ramp up production. But it wasn’t until July — some 17 months after Putin invaded Ukraine — that PM Rishi Sunak agreed a paltry ten per cent increase in shell manufacturing.

The European Union has promised to buy a million shells for a billion euros, but is yet to sign any contracts. The US has ramped up production, while Nato allies such as Poland have turned to South Korea for hundreds of tanks and howitzers.

A former Nato general said the need for bigger stockpiles and better manufacturing was laid bare by the loss of a British tank in Ukraine on Monday.

The general said: “If you are going to fight with tanks, you are going to need a lot of them because you are going to lose them.” The same is true of people.

Ukraine claims Russia has had 260,000 soldiers killed since the war began. But it has a population of 142million and a history of fighting on while soaking up losses.

So far, Moscow has been wary of ordering full-scale mobilisation amid fears of a public backlash.

Instead, the Kremlin recruited rapists and murderers to fight with the Wagner Mercenary Group.

And Havana announced that it had unmasked a “human trafficking ring” aimed at recruiting Cubans to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

Cuba is a close ally of Russia but has stressed “it does not form part of the conflict”.

Ukraine’s population is only around 41million. Its trenches were filled with professional soldiers, then waves of patriotic volunteers.

But it has now been forced to rely on a compulsory draft undermined by dodgers and corruption that forced out Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov.

On my many visits to Ukraine I have seen no signs it is losing the will to fight.

Yet a weariness has set in, with President Zelensky saying: “We have fatigue in our eyes, while the Russians only have fear.”

He had hoped his forces would punch south from Zaporizhzhia and towards the Sea of Azov and cut the Russian land bridge from Rostov to Crimea. It hasn’t happened.

The three month counter offensive has gone much slower than expected. Russia hasn’t collapsed. And Ukraine is currently losing a lot of people for not much ground.

Russia may soon have more weapons from Pyongyang. Without a lightning victory, both sides must prepare for a grinding war of resources. Ukraine’s best hope is arms from America.

And if Europe can’t ramp up production, Kyiv may turn to South Korea.

It will test the West’s promise to help Ukraine for “as long as it takes”. Putin will surely be betting that Nato loses focus and patience.

As ever, the greatest threat to Ukraine remains its allies’ resolve.