Kim Jong-un tells Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov he is committed to denuclearisation
Lavrov visited North Korea as the US negotiates the organisation of the Kim-Trump summit, which has been on rocky ground in recent weeks
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov he was committed to denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, the official KCNA news agency reported Friday.
“Kim Jong-un said that the DPRK’s will for denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula still remains unchanged and consistent and fixed,” KCNA reported after their meeting in Pyongyang on Thursday.
Kim hoped US-North Korean relations and denuclearisation of the peninsula “will be solved on a stage-by-stage basis” and “he hoped that the solution of the issues will progress through effective and constructive dialogue and negotiation”, the report by the North Korean news agency said.
Lavrov’s visit came as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a top North Korean official held talks on planning a historic summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore.
Russia has appeared to be on the fringes of a flurry of international diplomacy as North Korea and the United States have taken steps to set up talks aimed at ending years of tension over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.
Lavrov on Thursday passed on good wishes to Kim from Russian President Vladimir Putin and invited him to visit Moscow, television footage showed.