North Korea and Russia held a ceremony Tuesday to mark the linking of a new cross-border road bridge over the Tumen River, according to Russian authorities, in another key step in expanding their bilateral ties.

The ceremony commemorating the connection of the bridge’s superstructure took place at the border between the two countries, two months ahead of the official opening, Moscow’s Foreign Ministry said on Telegram on Tuesday.

Senior Russian officials, including Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin and Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov attended the event via videoconference, the ministry reported. Kozlov co-chairs the bilateral Intergovernmental Committee for Cooperation in