North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held bilateral talks today on the sidelines of a military parade in Beijing. During their meeting, Kim expressed appreciation to Putin for praising his troops fighting for Russia and vowed to strengthen bilateral ties. Their meeting comes amid deepening cooperation between North Korea and Russia in a wide range of areas, which has involved the North’s deployment of troops in support of Russia in its war against Ukraine, reports said. Earlier in the day, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, along with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, attended a military parade in Beijing, marking the first such meeting among leaders of Pyongyang, Moscow and Beijing in 66 years.