They strolled side by side through the gleaming space centre – stopping to peer into the pit from where rockets blast into space.

At their lavish banquet, they drank Russian wines and toasted the embrace of their two pariah states.

And before leaving, they swapped guns as gifts – model rifles from each others’ munitions lines.

The optics of Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin’s date in eastern Russia clearly underscore a relationship that is being strengthened in wartime.

It isn’t over yet, with the North Korean leader spending several days touring shipyards, aircraft factories and other military sites before he returns home.

There had been great anticipation in the lead-up – with global media rapt as Kim trundled for hours in his armoured train over the border.

He kept the West guessing for nearly 40 hours before reaching the Vostochny Cosmodrome – a space base in a far-flung eastern corner of Russia. Even then, it was unclear what exactly the pair would be meeting to talk about – with White House warnings last week that the North could sell arms to Russia sparking alarm.