Korea’s Kim in Russia for first talks with Putin

VLADIVOSTOK: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he was looking forward to his first talks with President Vladimir Putin as he arrived in Russia on Wednesday seeking support in Pyongyang’s nuclear deadlock with the United States.

Kim’s armoured train rolled in to the Tsarist-era station in Russia’s Pacific port city of Vladivostok, where the summit will take place on Thursday.Wearing a long black coat and fedora, Kim stepped out onto a red carpet on the station platform before making his way outside where he was received by an honour guard and military band. His limousine drove off after the ceremony, bodyguards in suits running alongside.

The talks, only confirmed at the last minute, will be Kim’s first face-to-face meeting with another head of state since returning from his Hanoi summit with US President Donald Trump, which broke down in February without a deal on the North’s nuclear arsenal.

“I hope this visit will be successful and useful,” Kim told Russian television in the border town of Khasan, where women in folk costumes welcomed him with bread and salt in a traditional greeting.