Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un vow to seek closer ties in first face-to-face encounter in Russia [Photos]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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