Kim Jong-un Arrives in Russia to Meet with Vladimir Putin

Kim Jong-un has arrived in Vladivostok, Russia, for a summit with President Vladimir Putin.

The North Korean leader arrived by train in the Pacific Coast for his first talks with the Russian president, which are expected to start on April 25.

Kim Jong-un was welcomed by officials with a traditional offering of bread and salt.

Russia says they will discuss the Korean peninsula’s “nuclear problem” but Kim Jong-un is also said to be seeking support after talks with the US failed.

President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un met in Hanoi earlier this year to discuss North Korea’s nuclear weapons program but the summit – their second – ended without agreement.

The North Korean leader greeted Russian officials warmly on his arrival in Vladivostok.

After tasting traditional korovai bread and salt, Kim Jong-un was entertained by a brass band before he got inside a car flanked by bodyguards who – in now familiar scenes – jogged alongside the vehicle as it departed.

He told Russian TV earlier, after crossing the border at Khasan: “I arrived in Russia bearing the warm feelings of our people, and as I already said, I hope this visit will be successful and useful.

“I hope that during the talks with respected President Putin, I will be able to discuss in a concrete manner issues relating to the settlement of the situation on the Korean peninsula, and to the development of our bilateral relations.”

The summit is due to take place on April 25 at about 13:00 local time on Russky island, just off Vladivostok, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russia’s Interfax news agency.

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Russian and North Korean national flags are already in place on the island, where the leaders are expected to meet on a university campus.

Vladimir Putin was expected to arrive for the summit later.

According to his spokesman, the Kremlin believes the six-party talks on North Korea, which are currently stalled, are the only efficient way of addressing the issue of nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula.

Those talks, which began in 2003, involve the two Koreas as well as China, Japan, Russia and the US.

North Korea has blamed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for the collapse of the Hanoi summit in February.

Earlier this month, North Korea demanded that Mike Pompeo be removed from nuclear talks, accusing him of “talking nonsense” and asking for someone “more careful” to replace him.

The summit is also an opportunity for Pyongyang to show that its economic future does not depend solely on the US.

Kim Jong-un may also try to put pressure on Moscow to ease sanctions.

Analysts believe this summit is a chance for Russia to show that it is an important player on the Korean peninsula.

President Vladimir Putin has been eager to meet Kim Jong-un for quite some time. Yet amid the two Trump-Kim summits, the Kremlin has been somewhat sidelined.

Russia, like the US and China, is uncomfortable with North Korea being a nuclear state.