Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in Beijing on Tuesday for high-level bilateral talks after their joint appearance at a grand military parade hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2.

The meeting took place at the Diaoyutai State Guest House, shortly after the two leaders travelled together from a formal reception in the same car — a gesture underscoring the deepening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, according to the Kremlin, reported AP.

Before sitting down for the talks, Putin lauded the role played by North Korean troops who, he said, had shown "bravery and heroism" in fighting alongside Russian forces against a Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region. South Korean intelligence estimates that North Korea has deployed roughly 15,000 troops to Russia since last year and supplied substantial quantities of military hardware, including artillery and ballistic missiles, in support of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, now in its third year.