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President Trump’s extraordinary summit with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last month has yet to yield any concrete results on the war in Ukraine.

Medical advances and geopolitics collide for two septuagenarian leaders who have suggested that their time in office is far from over.

Rides in his hulking bulletproof Aurus with the Indian and North Korean leaders offered the Russian leader an ideal setting for deepening ties.

On display in Beijing were nuclear weapons launched by air, sea and land, laser weapons and four-legged drones
It was hardly a subtle attempt to project power. China showed off air-, sea- and land-launched nuclear weapons in its parade on Wednesday, a triad intended to demonstrate that Beijing’s long-term aspiration is to match US military might.
Also on display were large underwater torpedo-like drones, intended to threaten western warships, as well as anti-drone lasers and four-legged “robot wolves”, all designed to be noticed, regardless of their actual military effectiveness.

The authoritarian leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping mused on how organ transplants might lead to immortality during a brief exchange of small talk caught on a hot mic on Wednesday. The Russian president was in Beijing as a guest at a huge military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war

Trump criticises victory day event as China caps off week of diplomatic grandstanding seen as rebuke to the west
Xi Jinping said the world was facing a choice between peace or war as he held China’s largest-ever military parade, joined by Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un in a show of defiance to the west.
Putin and Kim, the authoritarian leaders of Russia and North Korea, were among dozens of world leaders who attended the parade, a massive display of military hardware and personnel, orchestrated to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, which China calls the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

Live footage of private conversation between Russian president and Chinese leader aired at Beijing military parade
The authoritarian strongmen Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have mused on how organ transplants might lead to immortality, during a brief exchange of small talk caught on a hot mic at a military parade.
The Russian president was in Beijing on Wednesday with the Chinese leader, who hosted allies for of the end of the second world war.

A highly choreographed display and formidable guest list were designed to send a message to the US and its allies about China’s strength
Xi Jinping , orchestrated to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, which China calls the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
The event caps off a big week of diplomacy for China’s leader, coming just days after the Chinese city of Tianjin hosted .

Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he would meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Moscow if the Ukrainian leader was ready. 'It's possible, I never rejected it, if this meeting is well-prepared and will lead to some positive, possible results,' the Russian president said at a news conference after attending a big military parade in Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of world war two

In an unprecedented spectacle the leaders of Russia, China and North Korea led a group of more than 20 world leaders at a victory day parade in Beijing

It is an image that, had it been published just a few years ago, would have been dismissed as a piece of mischievous photo-shopping: the leaders of Russia and China, accompanied by the head of a pariah regime whose mission to arm his country with nuclear weapons had been opposed at the United Nations by his two companions.
But dramatic shifts in the geopolitical landscape – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and, crucially, the re-election of Donald Trump – have combined to bring Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un together in what many observers are calling .

Tens of thousands of spectators packed the stands to witness Xi Jinping’s military parade marking 80 years since the defeat of Japan in the second world war. And watching from above, along the Chinese leader, were some of the world’s most powerful men, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.
The parade follows diplomatic meetings with other non-western leaders, including India’s Narendra Modi.Helen Davidson talks to Nour Haydar about why Xi has invited some of the world’s most powerful men to China – and how these alliances are reshaping our world
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The three-way partnership on show in Beijing is united in opposition to US hegemony and a western-dominated financial system
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Donald Trump’s first reaction to the of China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un marching side-by-side at a huge military parade in Beijing was, predictably, all about him. This show of solidarity and strength, he complained, was nothing less than an attempt to “conspire” against the United States. Trump likes military parades – his own, that is. Even more, he likes to be on the podium, at the centre of attention. He casts himself as world number one. The images coming out of the Chinese capital this week challenged him on all three counts.
This puncturing of Trump’s insecure ego, and the striking feebleness of his response, will greatly gratify Xi. Trump’s behaviour towards China since taking office in January has been aggressive, vindictive and patronising by turns. His , in particular, have caused unprecedented disruption. Though the worst of the levies are paused until November, they help explain Xi’s repeated insistence China is a proud nation that will not be bullied. At the same time, Trump has talked vaguely about offering a face-to-face summit, as if bestowing a great gift. Parading the Beijing triumvirate was Xi’s pointed riposte.
Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator