Russia Invites North Korean Leader to Moscow
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to Moscow next year to mark the 70th anniversary of the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany in World War Two, the Kremlin’s spokesman said on Friday.
It would be Kim’s first foreign visit since taking the helm of the east Asian state in 2011. His personal envoy came to Moscow last month in the framework of efforts by the two Cold War-era allies to improve relations.
"Yes, such an invitation was sent,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state news agency TASS. Russia marks the former Soviet Union’s World War Two victory every year on May 9.
Moscow needs North Korean cooperation in boosting natural gas exports to South Korea as Gazprom wants to build a gas pipeline through North Korea to reach its southern neighbor.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has also said North Korea is ready to resume stalled international talks on its nuclear program.
North Korea, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States began talks in 2003 to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons, but they were suspended after Pyongyang tested nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009.
It would be Kim’s first foreign visit since taking the helm of the east Asian state in 2011. His personal envoy came to Moscow last month in the framework of efforts by the two Cold War-era allies to improve relations.
"Yes, such an invitation was sent,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state news agency TASS. Russia marks the former Soviet Union’s World War Two victory every year on May 9.
Moscow needs North Korean cooperation in boosting natural gas exports to South Korea as Gazprom wants to build a gas pipeline through North Korea to reach its southern neighbor.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has also said North Korea is ready to resume stalled international talks on its nuclear program.
North Korea, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States began talks in 2003 to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons, but they were suspended after Pyongyang tested nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009.