Twenty years ago in Moscow's Red Square, former US President George W Bush sat alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin to mark the 60th anniversary of the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany.
The leaders of France, Germany and other European countries also attended Russia's Victory Day celebrations in 2005.
Back then, it looked like the divisions of the Cold War had been plastered over.
Russia had opened its market to western investors more than a decade previously and after the economic chaos of the Yeltsin years, and the Chechen wars (the second one launched on Mr Putin's orders), Russia was presenting itself to the West as a reliable and stable partner.
The Western Allies and the former Soviet Union had jointly defeated the evils of Nazi Germany.
So it made sense to remember the sacrifices of the war generation together, particularly the suffering of the Soviet Union's civilian population during the war.
Approximately 27 million of its citizens were killed as a result of Nazi Germany's invasion and occupation of present day Belarus, western Russia and Ukraine.
But the détente between Moscow and the West that had spanned the 1990s until the mid-2000s was not to last.
Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008, its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and proxy war in eastern Ukraine, and finally its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 put paid to that.
Attending Victory Day parades in Moscow was no longer conceivable for Western leaders.
Watching yesterday’s commemoration unfold via livestream, you got a good sense of where Russia’s geopolitical priorities now lie, and who it considers as its allies.
Instead of a US president, it was China’s President Xi Jinping who was the guest of honour yesterday, seated next to Mr Putin at the massive military parade.
Mr Xi’s four-day state visit to Russia this week reflected Moscow and Beijing’s ever-closer geopolitical and economic ties.
China is key to Russia’s economic survival.
Trade between the two countries has increased sizeably since the start of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, with China buying discounted Russian energy exports, in particular crude oil.
Though China does not supply Russia with weapons, it does provide Russia with access to valuable technology such as semiconductors that its defence industry can use.
Moscow's field of friendly countries has shrunk compared to 20 years ago and has been whittled down to a collection of former Soviet republics run by autocrats, countries from the global south, one-party socialist states and the plain odd.
Yesterday, one autocrat after another arrived at the Kremlin by car as a military band played marching tunes and thousands of Russian troops chanted "Hoorah", a Russian war cry, across Red Square.
The rulers of Belarus, Burkino Faso, Cuba, Eritrea, Egypt, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan (a country NGOs accuse of routinely torturing prisoners), Venezuela and Vietnam were just some of the 29 countries to attend.
Brazil was the only other big economy apart from China to attend, as well as one of the few democracies to be represented.
Milorad Dodik, the Bosnian Serb leader, who last month threatened that his Serb entity will secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina, was there, as were the leaders of the breakaway pro-Russian regions of Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
High-ranking North Korean army officers, their chests laden with medals, were greeted by Mr Putin during the event - a reflection of Russia’s military partnership with North Korea and the isolated state’s involvement in the war in Ukraine.
Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan at yesterday's Victory Day parade.
Most of the leaders (and all of the autocrats) wore the black and orange ribbon of the Russian army.
Brazilian President Lula Inacio da Silva did not go so far as to wear the Russian army's ribbon.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić - the only European leaders to attend - also avoided wearing the symbol.
Both leaders have maintained economic ties with Moscow during the current war in Ukraine.
However, for Mr Fico, whose relations with the EU can often be strained, supporting the army that invaded Ukraine would be a step too far. The same goes for Mr Vučić whose country wants to join the EU.
Russian authorities have used the symbolism and history of Victory Day to promote its invasion of Ukraine, presenting the current war as a patriotic act that follows in the tradition of Soviet soldiers who defeated the Nazi invaders.
The small collection of leaders in Moscow yesterday reflected Russia's limited choices when it comes to international diplomacy.
But it also showed that Russia is not entirely isolated.
It has China's support, both diplomatically and economically.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi declined an invite to attend the Moscow parade, but his country's heavy reliance on Russian energy exports has provided Moscow with valuable revenues since western sanctions kicked in.
The presence of Brazil's Lula in Moscow also signaled that Russia has the ear of another big economy from the global south.
At a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Warsaw on Thursday, the day before the big military parade in Moscow, the bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters: "All those who truly support peace should be in Ukraine tomorrow [Friday], not Moscow".
It sounded like a dig at Mr Fico, the only EU leader to travel to Russia for Victory Day.
But Ms Kallas was also referring to the meeting that took place yesterday in Lviv between EU foreign ministers and Ukrainian officials.
At that meeting, also attended by European Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath and British foreign secretary David Lammy, the EU and the UK gave their support to the establishment of a special tribunal to investigate war crimes by Russian forces in Ukraine.
All this took place on Europe Day, a date each year when the EU celebrates peace and unity in Europe.
And despite US President Donald Trump's efforts to re-engage with Russia in recent months to end its war in Ukraine, Moscow's continued pursuit of that war means any détente in relations is a long way off.
That means the collection of leaders that gather in Moscow for Victory Day each 9 May will continue to be a group that is largely at odds with the West and democracy.
