Moscow — Preparations were well underway Thursday in Moscow for the annual “Victory Day” parade. The huge celebrations mark the former Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II, 80 years ago this year. 

Dozens of world leaders invited by President Vladimir Putin have gathered in Moscow for the events, and the fact that our CBS News team was allowed in to witness it all shows how much things have changed in just 100 days. U.S. relations with Russia under President Trump have thawed, and American media have been invited in to see the grand spectacle of the Victory Day commemorations.

Thursday brought a dress rehearsal for the main event, a lavish military parade set to take place on May 9, the day on which Russia celebrates its historic victory over the Nazis. Due to the time difference between Russia and the Western European nations where the German surrender was cemented, the U.S. and its European allies mark the Victory in Europe on May 8 every year — the day on which Adolf Hitler’s forces capitulated to the Allies in 1945, ending World War II on the continent.

Putin’s guest of honor this year, China’s President Xi Jinping, was already in town on Thursday. He’s the most powerful of several world leaders who have come to show that, despite international sanctions and widespread condemnation of Putin’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine, the Russian leader does have friends.

According to China’s state-run media, the two leaders took advantage of Xi’s visit to sign more than 20 “bilateral cooperation documents,” covering issues including “global strategic stability, maintaining the authority of international law” and biosecurity. The two countries have emphasized their deepening ties for several years, with the Kremlin declaring in 2022 that Russia and China would strive to create a new “democratic world order.“

While the theme of the party in Moscow this week is an 80-year-old victory, fighting still rages in Ukraine, claiming Russian lives, and any victory in the contemporary conflict looks a long way off.

Ukrainians are dying, too — both soldiers and, this week, more civilians whom Ukrainian officials say were killed in a Russian drone and missile strike.

CBS News asked a group of Russian cheerleaders preparing for the events in Moscow what they hoped for at this stage in the Ukraine conflict, and in particular, about President Trump’s diplomatic push for a ceasefire, something their own president has thus far declined to agree to.

“I think it’s a great deal to stop the war,” said Mikael.

“I agree it’s important for everybody, for everyone — for our kids, young people,” said Elena.

It’s one thing to want peace, however, and quite another to get it.

President Putin declared more than a week ago that Russia would observe a three-day ceasefire in Ukraine to mark Victory Day, starting on Thursday. But even if Russian attacks do stop over the weekend, people on both sides of the border know the fighting will start again on Monday.

Leigh Kiniry

contributed to this report.