North Korea’s Kim Jong Un pledged to “invariably support” Russia’s war in Ukraine in a meeting with Andrey Belousov, Russia’s defense minister, in Pyongyang last Friday.

Belousov led a military delegation to North Korea on Friday as North Korea expands its support for Russia from weapons trade to troop deployment. North Korea’s Central News Agency (K.C.N.A.) reported that Kim and Belousov have reached a “satisfactory consensus” on increasing strategic partnership and defending the respective countries’ sovereignty. According to K.C.N.A., Kim said, “The D.P.R.K. government, army, and people will invariably support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity from the imperialists’ moves for hegemony.” The two sides agreed to expand their mutual relations in all areas under the strategic partnership Kim signed with Putin in June.

North Korea has provided 10,000 soldiers to fight in the war, according to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. In addition to sending troops, Moscow and Pyongyang’s dramatic advancement in their relationship following the Putin-Kim summit in June saw North Korea shipping 10,000 containers of munitions and other military equipment to Russia.

Russia has provided North Korea with a million barrels of oil as payment in a move that defies U.N. sanctions, according to satellite imagery analysis by the Open Source Centre, a non-profit research group in the U.K.

The burgeoning North Korea-Russia relationship has made China nervous, according to the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. Chinese officials have largely been silent on North Korea’s provision of troops, possibly because China fears that military cooperation in Ukraine will help the United States strengthen its ties with South Korea and Japan. This outcome would be a negative one for China, since it would signal a greater American presence in a region where, Beijing views, Washington attempts to curb its influence.

Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union, China has been North Korea’s primary trading partner; 98% of North Korea’s foreign trade is with China. However, Pyongyang now seems to be attempting to leverage Russia’s war to solidify a triangular relationship between the three countries, a move that implies a loss of Chinese initiative.

China understands that any possible Russian nuclear assistance to North Korea would bolster the American alliance in East Asia, potentially even creating an atmosphere suitable for a N.A.T.O.-style coalition in the region. Whether China views North Korea’s military alliance with Russia as a threat remains unclear. Nevertheless, Kim Jong Un has shown little regard for China’s viewpoint as he pivots towards Putin.

As analysts note, Putin’s entrenching warfare in Ukraine has devolved Russia into a junior partner in its relations with China and North Korea. North Korea’s involvement in this war will see numerous unforeseen variables that could leave lasting marks in Eastern Europe and on the Korean Peninsula.