The top diplomats from South Korea and the United States held talks Thursday to discuss bilateral relations, Korean Peninsula issues and trilateral cooperation with Japan. 

According to Seoul’s foreign ministry on Friday, foreign minister Cho Tae-yul met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington the previous day on the sidelines of the “two-plus-two” meeting for the two countries’ defense and foreign policy chiefs.

The ministry said the top diplomats discussed shared concerns about the deepening ties between Russia and North Korea, including the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.

The two sides reportedly agreed to cooperate and share information on signs of North Korean soldiers being deployed for combat with Ukraine.

Cho requested Blinken’s efforts to ensure that the deeper trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, and bilateral agreements Seoul and Washington made under the Biden administration, continue under Biden’s successor. 

Blinken said there is solid bipartisan support in the U.S. for the South Korea-U.S. alliance, and he pledged to do his part to advance bilateral relations further.