Russian foreign minister meets with North Korean counterpart
Sergey Lavrov’s visit is seen as an attempt by Russia to gain influence as Pyongyang heads toward possible negotiations with the US and South Korea
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho on Thursday in Pyongyang, a trip seen as an attempt by Moscow to make its voice heard in its neighboring state’s new push for diplomacy.
Lavrov’s visit comes ahead of a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has also made recent diplomatic overtures to Seoul and Beijing.
“Sergei Lavrov, foreign minister of the Russian Federation, arrived here on Thursday at the invitation of Ri Yong Ho, foreign minister of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea),” KCNA news agency said in a brief dispatch.
It gave no further details but Russia’s Tass news agency said the two foreign ministers had begun talks at the Supreme People’s Assembly building in Pyongyang, in Lavrov’s first visit to North Korea since 2009.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement earlier they would discuss bilateral issues as well as the overall situation on the Korean Peninsula. Details of Lavrov’s schedule in Pyongyang were not disclosed.
Despite having a border with the North and relatively cordial relations that President Vladimir Putin has seemed to want to develop further, Russia has so far remained largely on the sidelines as Kim emerged onto the world stage this year.
Kim has already met twice with China’s President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. One of Kim’s top lieutenants, former intelligence chief Kim Yong Chol, is now in New York to discuss with US officials the agenda for the summit planned in Singapore on or around June 12.
Lavrov spoke to his US counterpart Mike Pompeo by telephone for the first time on Wednesday ahead of the secretary of state’s dinner meeting with Kim Yong Chol.
The Times of Israel Community.