April 23, 2019
The meeting will take place soon according to North Korean state media.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will soon visit Russia for his first summit with President Vladimir Putin, state media reported Tuesday.
Kim “will soon pay a visit to the Russian Federation at the invitation of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, president of the Russian Federation,” according to the Korean Central News Agency.
“They will have talks during the visit.”
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The KCNA, however, did not provide when and where they will meet.
Kim and Putin are widely expected to meet in Russia’s Far East city of Vladivostok either Wednesday or Thursday.
The Kremlin earlier announced they will meet later this month but did not provide details.
Citing multiple sources, the Russian newspaper Kommersant has reported that Kim will arrive in Vladivostok on Wednesday and hold a summit with Putin at the Far Eastern Federal University the following day.
It added that Kim is expected to stay in Russia until Friday, although Putin will leave for Beijing soon after the summit with the North Korean leader so as to attend an international conference slated to occur Friday and Saturday.
The paper also said that Kim’s train, which may carry a 230-strong delegation, is expected to cross the North Korea-Russia border on Wednesday morning.
The upcoming summit will be the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries in eight years, after Kim’s late father, former leader Kim Jong-il, met then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in 2011.
This will also mark the first time for Kim to travel abroad after his February summit with US President Donald Trump ended without a deal as they failed to find common ground over the scope of Pyongyang’s denuclearization and Washington’s sanctions relief.