Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un hold first summit
Kim says visit to Russia an opportunity to exchange opinions
From CNN's Jake Kwon in Seoul
Kim Jong Un called his visit to Russia "a great joy" during the two leaders' summit Thursday, as the two sides' delegations prepared to meet behind closed doors.
He continued:
"I would like to offer again a sincere gratitude to Mr. President for making time in his busy schedule and come thousands of miles from the capital city of Moscow to here to give us time for a great conversation."
"We are visiting Russia this time to meet in person with President Putin and exchange our opinions. It is to exchange our mutual views on Korean Peninsula and this region’s political landscape which is a great focus of the world’s attention. It is also to work for stabilization of this regions political landscape and to deeply share opinion on issues that pertains to jointly managing the political landscape in the future. Another purpose was to exchange opinions on the issues like growing and developing our two nation’s traditional relationship into one that is more solid and constructive according to the demand of the new century."
16 min ago
Analyst: Russia doesn't have a lot of leverage on denuclearization
Philip Yun, the executive director of the anti-nuclear weapons NGO Ploughshares Fund, said he was surprised that denuclearization was high on the agenda for the Putin-Kim summit because Russia has little leverage in dealing with North Korea.
He described the summit as "long on symbolism."
"Kim Jong Un is trying to figure out what his options are and trying to increase his leverage with the United States," Yun told CNN.
Yun said the summit offers Putin an opportunity to insert Russia into the conversation when it comes to resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis, as Moscow risked being left on the sidelines after last year's flurry of diplomatic activity between North Korea, South Korea, the United States and China.
This the moment North Korea's Kim Jong Un met with Russia's Vladimir Putin. It's the sixth world leader Kim has met since 2018.
— CNN International (@cnni) April 25, 2019
Follow live updates from the summit here: https://t.co/QX8uEp6lXppic.twitter.com/BI1JtjlFLj
33 min ago
Putin calls talks with Kim "thorough"
From CNN’s Alla Eshchenko
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had "thorough one-on-one talks" to kick off their summit in Vladivostok.
Speaking before the North Korean and Russian delegations, Putin said the two leaders spoke about "about the history of relations between our countries, about today and perspectives of development of our bilateral relations.
"We discussed about the situation on Korean Peninsula. We exchanged with opinions about what and how needs to be done, so that the situation would have a great perspective for improvement," he said.
2 hr ago
Putin: Meeting will clarify "the ways we can help to settle the situation on the Korean peninsula"
Putin said he believed Kim's visit would help "our bilateral relations and will help us to understand the ways we can help to settle the situation on the Korean peninsula, what can be done together, what Russia can do to support the positive processes that are taking their place now."
Here's what else Putin said:
I’m very happy to have you in Russia. Our colleagues have agreed about it a long time ago. First of all, I’d love to congratulate you with being elected on a high role -- as a head of DPRK. I sent you a letter, but I’m happy to congratulate you with this now in person. I’d like to say that last year we celebrated 70 years of diplomatic ties between our countries.
I’m sure your visit to Russia will also help to develop our bilateral relations and will help us to understand the ways we can help to settle the situation on the Korean Peninsula, what can be done together, what Russia can do to support the positive processes that are taking their place now. We welcome your efforts on developing inter-Korean dialogue and your efforts on normalizing the US-North Korean relations. And of course, in terms of bilateral agenda, we need to achieve a lot to develop trade and economic ties and humanitarian ties
57 min ago
Kim Jong Un congratulates Putin, says meeting will be "beneficial"
Speaking to the media after meeting Vladimir Putin for the first time, Kim Jong Un said he expects to have a "beneficial meeting" with the Russian President.
Kim also thanked Putin for hosting him during a "very busy time." Addressing the Russian leader, he continued:
I have already congratulated you through a letter in the previous year, but I would like to congratulate you on this opportunity once again for taking up the duty of leading the great Russian people in last year’s presidential election and for passionately working now.
I think it will be a meeting that will be very beneficial to constructively developing our two nation’s relations which boasts a long history and tradition of friendship into one that is more firm and whole.
News Courtesy: www.cnn.com
