North Korean leader Kim Jong Un kicked off a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon, hours after they both attended a large-scale military parade in Tiananmen Square.

The bilateral meeting is taking place at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and comes amid extensive military cooperation between the treaty allies over the war in Ukraine, with the DPRK sending thousands of troops and large quantities of weapons to support Russia’s invasion.

Earlier in the day, the two state leaders appearedon either side of Chinese President Xi Jinping during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary