Russian President Vladimir Putin treated Chinese President Xi Jinping to a bright fanfare and a long red carpet walk as the two leaders met at the Kremlin ahead of the Victory Day parade in Moscow.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a video of the formal greeting on social media, after which Putin hailed his “dear friend” Xi ahead of the celebrations to mark 80 years since the end of World War II in Europe.

China is a vital strategic partner of Russia and, through economic support in the form of oil purchases, has aided Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine amid punitive Western sanctions.

“Dear Chairman, dear friend, dear Chinese friends! It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to Moscow,” Putin said, addressing Xi and the visitors from Beijing, state news agency TASS reported.

“I am very pleased with our new meeting and sincerely appreciate the opportunity to have a personal, direct conversation with you.”

This is a developing article and more information will be added soon.