Kremlin welcomes start of 'direct dialogue' at Kim-Trump summit

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the summit showed that President Vladimir Putin had been right to advocate direct dialogue as the only way of reducing tensions with North Korea. PHOTO: REUTERS

MOSCOW (AFP, XINHUA) - The Kremlin on Wednesday (June 13) said it welcomed the unprecedented meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as the start of direct dialogue.

"Just the fact that such a meeting took place and direct first-hand dialogue was started can only be welcomed," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

The Kremlin said the meeting "proved correct the Russian side and President Vladimir Putin, who said there is no alternative to political and diplomatic methods to resolve the problem on the Korean peninsula and the only way is direct dialogue, which we are seeing now."

Such meetings, whatever their results, "help reduce tensions on the peninsula and move the situation away from that critical point where it was literally a few months ago," Peskov said. "This can only be a cause of satisfaction."

But the actual results of Kim and Trump's meeting remain to be seen, Peskov said, adding that such ingrained problems could not be resolved immediately.

Peskov also said that Putin would meet Kim Yong Nam, the North's nominal head of state, in Moscow on Thursday.

Trump and Kim held a historic meeting in Singapore on Tuesday, with the North promising in a joint statement to work towards the "denuclearisation" of the Korean Peninsula, while the US would provide it with security guarantees.

SPH Brightcove Video
US President Donald Trump said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gave his "unwavering commitment" to work towards denuclearisation during their summit. He noted that sanctions would not be lifted until complete denuclearisation happens.

The summit was the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.

But they offered few specifics and many analysts cast doubt on how effective the document would be.

Russia maintains fairly close ties with North Korea, with which it shares a short land border.

Moscow praised a summit between the leaders of the two Koreas at the border in April as a positive step.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.