Share :

Download PDF :

Russian News Agency (31 May 2018)

The Kremlin believes it is too early to contemplate the possibility of a personal meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who earlier on Thursday held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Pyongyang.

"It is too early to speculate about this," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked if the possibility of a Putin-Kim meeting was being considered.

"There has been no detailed report yet (to Putin) from Foreign Minister (Lavrov) concerning his visit to Pyongyang," Peskov said.

He answered in the affirmative, when asked if Lavrov had delivered a message from the Russian leader to Kim.

"Certainly, the minister delivered the presidential message to the North Korean side," Peskov said, adding he would not comment on the contents of the message.

Lavrov paid an official visit to Pyongyang on Thursday for talks with Kim Jong-un and invited him to visit Russia. A video of the meeting is available on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s YouTube channel. On behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin Lavrov expressed the wishes of success in settling issues on the Korean Peninsula. Lavrov said Russia highly estimated the Panmunjom Declaration produced by the inter-Korean summit and was prepared to contribute to its implementation.

Lavrov was the first Russian to have met with the current North Korean leader. The visit took place against the background of growing dialogue between Seoul and Pyongyang and just two weeks ahead of Kim’s scheduled meeting with US President Donald Trump in Singapore, due on June 12.

http://tass.com/politics/1007405