FILE - People, holding portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin, greet and applaud as a motorcade with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un move past in a street in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. China appears to be keeping its distance as Russia and North Korea move closer to each other with a new defense pact that could tilt the balance of power between the three authoritarian states. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Photo via AP)