President Vladimir Putin hosted North Korea's top diplomat Choe Son Hui in Moscow on Monday, the Kremlin said.

"President Putin received the foreign minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Choe Son Hui," the Kremlin said in a statement, publishing a video of the pair shaking hands ahead of talks.

Choe traveled to Russia last week for her second trip in six weeks, at a time of mounting alarm in the West over military cooperation between the two countries. The United States says North Korea has sent thousands of troops to Russia and is poised to join the war in Ukraine on Moscow's side. Russia has neither confirmed nor denied their presence.