North Korean leader Kim Jong-un getting ready for first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin
- Summit is likely to take place April 24 in Vladivostok, before Putin’s April 26-27 visit to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping
Russia is preparing for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s first summit with President Vladimir Putin, South Korea’s Yonhap News reported, setting the stage for consultations between the long-time allies after Kim’s nuclear talks with the US broke down.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow that plans were being made for a summit but offered no details on a time or place, Yonhap said Tuesday. Peskov’s comments came before a meeting of South Korean and Russian diplomats in Moscow.
South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper said in a separate report Tuesday that Putin and Kim’s summit is likely to take place April 24 in Vladivostok, before Putin’s April 26-27 visit to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
South Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met with Russia’s First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Vladimir Titov and said both men thought the collapsed February summit between Kim and President Donald Trump in Hanoi “was not a failure” and denuclearisation talks should be pursued, Yonhap reported.