The leaders of Russia and Belarus discussed the possibility of trilateral cooperation with North Korea in talks on Sunday, potentially pointing to deeper military ties over the Ukraine war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko “discussed the prospects of realizing a number of projects in a trilateral format” during a phone call, according to a readout from Minsk.

Lukashenko’s office noted that the call followed his trip to Pyongyang in late March, where it said he identified a “number of prospective fields of cooperation” with the DPRK.

The Belarusian leader also confirmed that he will participate