NaijNaira
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un traveled across the border by train on Tuesday, making his way to Beijing where he will attend a major military parade alongside Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin — www.naijnaira.com reports.
The parade is scheduled for Wednesday and commemorates the 80th year since Japan’s defeat in World War II, according to state-run KCNA.
Kim is not traveling alone; he is joined by senior officials, including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui.
Xi and Putin arrived earlier after a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin, where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended.
Western governments and Kyiv have raised alarms about closer military cooperation among China, Russia, and North Korea, accusing Pyongyang of sending both ammunition and troops to aid Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.
“Relations between our countries have reached the highest level in history,” Putin declared after signing over 20 cooperation agreements with Xi, state media Xinhua reported.
Xi echoed that view, saying Beijing and Moscow’s partnership “has withstood the test of international changes.”
During the SCO gathering, Putin repeated his claim that Ukraine’s conflict stemmed from a Western-backed coup and NATO ambitions, rhetoric long dismissed by the West as disinformation.
Putin and Modi also met, with the Indian leader later writing on X that discussions covered trade, security, and a peaceful resolution in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the United States escalated trade tensions by slapping a 25% tariff on Indian goods, doubling the rate in response to New Delhi’s continued energy and defense dealings with Russia.
The Beijing parade is expected to feature China’s military strength, with rehearsals already showing large formations of helicopters and other aircraft over the capital.
