It follows Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visiting North Korea for the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War and holding talks with Kim Jong Un.
The United States expressed alarm over growing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea after a Russian Air Force plane was spotted landing in North Korea earlier this month.
A somber President Vladimir Putin vowed to hunt down and punish those responsible for a bomb that brought down a Russian passenger jet last month, “wherever they are hiding.” Intensified Russian airstrikes Tuesday hit the Islamic State (ISIS) stronghold in Syria that also is being pounded by the French military.