TBILISI — Laughing and joking, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un cruised around Pyongyang last week in a Russian-made Aurus limousine to showcase their strengthened anti-Western alliance.

The luxury sedan was intended to epitomise Russia's domestic prowess and reduced dependence on imported technology and goods when unveiled in 2018.

But customs records show that the company that builds it uses millions of dollars in imported parts, many arriving in Russia from what Kim has described as his country's "primary foe", South Korea.

The imports point to Russia's ongoing reliance on Western technology, as it seeks to navigate Western attempts to cut it off from global supply chains as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine.

The two leaders took turns driving the armoured limousine during Putin's pomp-filled visit, his first in nearly a quarter of a century to North Korea, in a demonstration of the two nuclear powers' increasingly close ties.

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