The meeting was Kim Jong-un's first face-to-face talks with another head of state since returning from his Hanoi summit with US President Donald Trump, which broke down without a deal on North Korea's nuclear arsenal in February.
Putin smiled and gestured to Kim before they both walked inside the building.
Before the meeting, Putin said he welcomed the normalization of relations between the US and North Korea.
"The people of the two countries. understand [that the] North Korea-Russia tie not only serves our mutual interests but is also indispensable for securing the region's peace and stability", Kim said.
Kim, who had arrived in Vladivostok a day earlier on board his armoured train, said the situation on the Korean peninsula "is an issue that the world is very interested in".
The summit in Vladivostok - the first ever between Putin and Kim - provides Pyongyang with an opportunity to seek support from a new quarter, Russia, and possible relief from the sanctions hurting its economy.
Moscow's role in talks over North Korea's nuclear programme is one of the few remaining points of contact with Washington as Russia's ties with the West plunged to Cold War-era lows because of the annexation of Crimea and support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Putin reportedly arrived at the venue 30 minutes before Kim, even though he has a long track record of making world leaders wait for him.
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In November, the US granted a six-month waiver to India and seven other countries to continue importing oil from Iran. Greece, Italy, Japan , South Korea and Taiwan - have already ended or heavily reduced their purchases from Iran.
The Putin-Kim summit is finally going ahead after a series of delays, during which time North Korea's leader conducted high-profile regional trips to South Korea and elsewhere. Some experts believe that Kim Jong eagerly wants to consolidate his ties with Russian Federation in the wake of his reportedly failed summit with US President Donald Trump over denuclearisation.
Mr Kim's trip to Russian Federation and his previous visits to China to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping are seen by analysts as attempts to shore up support as he continues his personal diplomacy with Mr Moon and Mr Trump. There have since been no publicly known high-level contacts between the US and North Korea, although both sides say they are still open to a third summit.
"Ceaselessly bolstering and developing strategic and traditional relations between North Korea and Russian Federation ... is my and my government's firm and unwavering position", Kim said later at a state banquet, where he made a toast.
Looking confident but a bit stiff, Kim also congratulated the Russian leader on his re-election to another six-year term last year.
But instead of collapse - like in Hanoi - this meeting ended in a champagne reception with the two leaders and their delegations serenaded by a Cossack choir as they tucked into beetroot soup and reindeer dumplings.
A State Department spokesman, asked about the summit, said the United States and the rest of the global community "are committed to the same goal - the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea". Others say it's not clear how big of a role Russian Federation can play in efforts to restart the nuclear negotiations.
Promising to brief the Chinese and USA leadership about his talks, Putin said he thought a deal on Pyongyang's nuclear program was possible and that the way to get there was to move forward step-by-step in order to build trust.
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