Vladimir Putin has offered Russia’s help to break the deadlock over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme in his first meeting with the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un.
Putin and Kim greeted each other warmly on Thursday, shaking hands before beginning two days of highly anticipated talks at a university in Russia’s far-eastern city of Vladivostok.
TV coverage showed Kim arriving in a limousine before being met by Putin, who smiled and gestured to Kim before they both walked inside.
Putin reportedly told Kim that Russia supported his efforts to normalise North Korea’s relations with the US, adding that he hoped this week’s talks would help clarify Russia’s potential role in reviving stalled negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.
Their meeting comes just two months after a second summit in Hanoibetween the North Korean leader and Donald Trump ended without agreement and differing explanations for their failure to make progress on denuclearising the Korean peninsula.
Kim earlier struck an upbeat tone and praised the Russian president when his train crossed the border at Khasan on Wednesday, saying: “I have heard a lot of good things about your country and wanted to visit it for a long time.
“Seven years have passed since I took charge of the country, but I did not have a chance to visit Russia until now.”
Kim told Russia’s state-owned Rossiya-24 that he was hoping for a “successful and useful” visit and would like to discuss with Putin the “settlement of the situation in the Korean Peninsula” as well as bilateral ties.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told Russian media the summit would focus on North Korea’s nuclear program, noting that Russia would seek to “consolidate the positive trends” stemming from Trump’s meetings with Kim.
Kim was greeted at Vladivostok by a military orchestra, with white-gloved attendants running alongside his armoured train to wipe the dust from any surfaces that he might touch exiting the carriage.
North Korea is seeking diplomatic support in its negotiations with the US over its nuclear programme, and material support for its sanctions-hit economy. Russia opposes the west’s sanctions-led approach but, like China, wants to see North Korea roll back its nuclear programme. Putin is expected to propose modest financial support, because Russia will not openly flout the economic sanctions and sees North Korea as a questionable investment.
They are also expected to discuss the fate of about 10,000 North Korean labourers working in Russia who are due to leave by the end of this year under sanctions.
Labour is one of North Korea’s key exports and sources of hard currency. Pyongyang has reportedly asked Russia to continue to employ its workers after the deadline.
Kim, whose government has told the UN it is facing food shortages this year, could also seek a boost in aid from Moscow, which has provided $25m in food aid to the North in recent years, according to the Kremlin.
Kim’s journey by rail echoed one made by his father, Kim Jong-il, who met Putin in Vladivostok in 2002 and once completed a 12,000-mile round-trip to Moscow on the same train.
Putin, meanwhile, travelled to North Korea just months into his presidency in 2000, becoming the first Russian leader to visit the state.
Kim Jong-il made his third and final trip to Russia in 2011, months before his death and his son’s rise to power.
The summit could allow Putin to try to increase his influence in regional politics and the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear program.
Chon Hyun-joon, a former senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said: “Kim wants to show that he’s cooperating with Russia too, rather than looking to only the US and China. But I think it’s not easy for Russia and China to provide North Korea with practical assistance that leads to the inflow of dollars.”
Russia’s trade with North Korea is minuscule at just $34m last year, mostly because of the international sanctions against Pyongyang.
Russia would like to gain broader access to North Korea’s mineral resources, including rare metals. Pyongyang, for its part, covets Russia’s electricity supplies and investment to modernise its dilapidated Soviet-built industrial plants, railways and other infrastructure.
After his summit with Putin, Kim was to meet with “ordinary people” in Russia, who favour closer ties with the North, Primorye governor Oleg Kozhemyako told Rossiye-24. He said Kim would also be given a chance to sample such traditional Russian dishes as borscht, pelmeni meat dumplings and caviar although he brought his own cooks with him.
Since March last year, Kim has met Trump twice, Chinese leader Xi Jinping four times and South Korean president Moon Jae-in three times.
The Guardian
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