Update at 21:00 EST: This article has been updated to include further comments from an analyst.

The chairman of North Korea’s parliament, Pak Thae Song, met with the leader of the Russian Senate in Moscow on Monday and spoke about strengthening bilateral ties between the two nations, according to Russia’s TASS News Agency.

Pak told his Russian counterpart that he hoped the two sides would stick to the commitment that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin made earlier this year when they met for the first time and vowed to improve the Russia-DPRK relationship,