Russia and North Korea have agreed to hold the summit of the two states’ leaders this year to mark the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the countries, North Korea’s KCNA news agency reported on Friday.
The agreement was reached during the May 31 meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang’s Paekhwawon State Guesthouse.
"During the meeting, the sides agreed to invigorate high-ranking visits, activate exchange and cooperation in different fields and, especially, realize the meeting between the top leaders of the DPRK and Russia this year marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations," KCNA said.
During the meeting with Lavrov, Kim confirmed "the DPRK's will for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula still remains unchanged and consistent and fixed and he hoped that the DPRK-U.S. relations and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula will be solved on a stage-by-stage basis."
He expressed his readiness to negotiate with the United States on denuclearization and bilateral relations.
Lavrov was the first Russian official to meet with Kim this year. His visit took place amid intensified US-North Korean dialogue and less than two weeks ahead of the scheduled US-North Korean summit meeting in Singapore on June 12.
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