Top North Korean and Russian military officials held talks in Moscow on ways to improve defense ties between the former communist allies, Pyongyang's state media reported Friday.

No Kwang-chol, vice chief of the General Staff of the North's Army, met with his Russian counterpart, as No is accompanying Choe Ryong-hae, a special envoy of the North's leader Kim Jong-un, on his Russia trip, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"Both sides had a wide-ranging exchange of views on putting the friendship and cooperation between the armies of the two countries on a new higher stage," it said in a dispatch from Moscow.

The KCNA gave no date of the meeting, but it was apparently held Thursday.

The two nations also held a separate meeting between senior economic officials, added the KCNA.

North Korean Vice Economy Minister Ri Kwang-gun had talks with Alexander Galushka, minister for the development of the Russian Far East. 

They "discussed measures for further boosting cooperation between the two countries in economy and trade for more substantial results," the KCNA said.

Meanwhile, Choe Ryong-hae, the Workers' Party of Korea secretary, held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday, which came a couple of days after a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

Lavrov was quoted as telling Choe that Moscow is ready for the "highest-level contact" with Pyongyang, indicating the possibility of summit talks between Putin and the North's leader Kim. (Yonhap)