Russia pledged to donate eagles, pythons and dozens of other animals to North Korea’s main zoo last week, in a move that one expert compared to China’s panda diplomacy and described as an attempt to take bilateral ties beyond geopolitics.

The Russian Embassy in North Korea announced last Friday that the Moscow Zoo delegation “donated over 40 animals” to the Pyongyang Central Zoo during its visit to the DPRK capital between April 22 and 26.