North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to meet President Vladimir Putin for the first time behind closed doors in Russia within the next 24 hours amid deadlocked nuclear negotiations with Washington.

Key points: Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin are set to meet for the first time ever on Thursday

Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin are set to meet for the first time ever on Thursday Russia is an important ally for North Korea, which is suffering under economic sanctions

Russia is an important ally for North Korea, which is suffering under economic sanctions North Korea bolsters Russian interests as a counterweight to US influence in the region

Russian media is reporting that Mr Kim has arrived in the border city of Khasan, after North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed he departed for Russia this morning by private train.

The meeting comes hot on the heels of the second summit between US President Donald Trump and Mr Kim in Hanoi breaking down with no resolution on nuclear disarmament. And just last week, North Korea tested a new tactical guided weapon.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, are set to have their first ever meeting. ( AP: Wong Maye-E/Reuters: Kremlin )

North Korea has not been able to secure what it wants from the US — relief from crushing international sanctions — and may be turning to its historical ally Russia for more support.

Moscow and Pyongyang were slow to confirm when and where the summit will take place, but North Korea's state media agency said this week they will meet in Russia "soon" and the Kremlin stated the meeting will happen on Thursday.

Loading

It's unclear if Mr Putin will push the stalled denuclearisation talks along, but it's expected that each side will bring their own political and economic agendas to the talks.

When and where are the leaders meeting?

The finer details about the timing and location of the summit have been kept somewhat vague but it's due to be held on Thursday in the far-flung eastern reaches of Russia, which borders North Korea.

But Mr Putin is set to make a stopover in the area on his way to attending China's second Belt and Road Forum (BRI) in Beijing from April 25–27, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reports.

He is accompanied by senior officials including Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho and First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, KCNA said.

Loading

The leaders are expected to meet in Vladivostok — located more than 9,000 kilometres east of Moscow — which is said to be an ideal location for the summit because of its relative seclusion.

NK News, which reports on developments in North Korea, published photos showing workers installing North Korean and Russian flags at Vladivostok's Far Eastern Federal University, which it said will likely host at least part of the summit.

The media outlet cited an anonymous source as saying that preparations for the summit were being made at the university's sport complex — known as "Building S" — where regular security has reportedly been ramped up.

The building is "famous" for being a venue for the annual Eastern Economic Forum, according to the source, and has hosted other world leaders including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Why are they meeting now?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un embraces his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in last year. ( AP: Korea Summit Press Pool )

While Mr Kim has attended a flurry of meetings with other leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mr Moon and Mr Trump over the past two years, this will be his first time meeting the Russian leader since coming into power in 2011.

The two nations share a communist past and were close allies during the Cold War period, when Russia provided aid and subsidies to the North.

Although this largesse has now dried up, Russia remains an important partner among the hermit state's small handful of allies and friends.

Leonid Petrov, a North Korea specialist at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, said "the meeting has been long overdue".

"It's time to have the summit, particularly [with] the view of the potential forthcoming third summit between Kim and Trump perhaps this year," he told the ABC.

"This would give President Putin a better insight into what was discussed by Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump behind the closed doors in Singapore and Hanoi," Dr Petrov said.

"I think it's a good opportunity for them to discuss what really happened during summits, and probably plan … the best steps which would make the third Trump-Kim summit successful."

What do Putin and Kim want from the summit?

Russian President Vladimir Putin more inclined to cosy up to Chairman Kim as a counterweight to US power. ( AP: Alexander Zemlianichenko )

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that the leaders will discuss political and diplomatic efforts to settle the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula.

He said Russia's bilateral trade with North Korea fell by more than 56 per cent last year because of sanctions against Pyongyang, but Moscow thinks it is important that North Korea and the US are interested in maintaining their contact.

Dr Petrov said the current trade between Russia and North Korea was "minimal" — less than $100 million per year — compared to the size of the Russian economy, but the North Korean market has untapped potential because it's "hungry for consumer goods and energy".

Russia had written off $11 billion in debt accrued by North Korea during the Soviet era, according to Dr Petrov, "so Russia had the expectations that it would permit to prepare a new slate for economic [cooperation] between the two countries".

He said that Russian energy, oil and gas could be in high demand in North Korea, while skilled North Korean labourers could bring great benefits to the underpopulated Russian far-eastern region.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un applauds after launching a missile. ( Reuters: KCNA )

"Currently I understand North Korea is requesting Russia to keep the current 40,000 North Korean labourers in Russia, but Russia is under pressure from the United Nations Security Council which demands the return of North Korean labourers as a sanction against North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile experimentations," he said.

"So Russia has a dilemma, whether to stick to the international sanctions and repatriate the North Korean labourers or to keep them in Russia and face potentially more sanctions."

After meddling in the US election and annexing the Crimea from Ukraine, Russia is under sanctions itself — making Mr Putin more inclined to cosy up to Chairman Kim as a counterweight to US power.

"Russia is prepared to do everything possible to prop up the regime there and maintain its economic and military capability to survive in the face of both sanctions and military pressure from United [States] and its allies in the region," he said.