Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un vow to seek closer ties in first face-to-face encounter in Russia
Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin embarked on a day of talks on an island off the Russian Pacific city of Vladivostok
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Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un met face-to-face for the first time on Thursday, vowing to seek closer ties as they look to counter US influence. AP
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Putin and Kim, accompanied by officials, attended a reception following their talks at the Far Eastern Federal University campus on Russky island in the far-eastern Russian port of Vladivostok. AFP
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Artists performed during the reception. The meeting was Kim’s first one-on-one talks with another head of state since returning from his Hanoi summit with US President Donald Trump, which broke down without a deal on North Korea’s nuclear arsenal in February. AP
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Kim presented Putin a traditional Korean sword, while the Russian leader gave the diminutive dictator a saber, as well as a tea set suitable for use on his armored train. AFP
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Following their talks on Thursday, Putin said Kim is willing to give up nuclear weapons, but only if he gets ironclad security guarantees supported by a multinational agreement. AP
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North Korea has all along contended that it needs its nuclear arsenal to defend itself against what it sees as US hostility and wants concrete reassurances of its safety — including the removal of the American nuclear threat as an integral part of the denuclearisation of the entire Korean Peninsula. Reuters
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On Friday, Kim Jong-un attended a wreath laying ceremony in Vladivostok, Russia, where he paid his respects at a ceremony honoring the war dead to wrap up a brief and generally successful visit to the Russian Far East for his first summit with Putin. AP
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