Putin calls for international security guarantee for North Korea

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for "international security guarantee" for North Korea to ensure denuclearisation by the country.

He also put forward the idea of resuming the six-party talks, saying it would be "helpful in developing a system of international security guarantees" for North Korea.

"I am not sure these (six-party) talks need to be resumed right now but I am confident that if we reach a stage where we will need to develop some kind of guarantees for one of the parties, primarily, security guarantees for North Korea, international guarantees will be necessary," TASS quoted Putin as saying.

Putin made these remarks during his maiden "constructive" summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the port city of Vladivostok in eastern Russia.

Terming the talks effective, the Russian President said, "We discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula and shared our positions on the measures to be taken for the situation to have good prospects for improvement."

Kim Jong-un thanked Putin for "fruitful" and "constructive" talks. "We just exchanged our positions with you, Mr President, in a face-to-face conversation on issues of mutual interest, on all major problems. I thank you for the splendid time and I hope that our negotiations will continue in the same way, as fruitful and constructive," he said.

Earlier in the day, the Russian leader greeted Kim as he arrived at the federal university here for the talks. They also exchanged a few words before entering the venue.

Bilateral relations and denuclearisation were the key aspects of the summit.

Some analysts have termed Putin's meeting with Kim as a coup after the failure of US President Donald Trump led Hanoi summit, CNN reported.

Though Kim and Trump have decided to hold another summit later this year, the North Korean leader approaching Putin signals that he is looking for alternatives.

Washington has, until now, reinforced that relief in sanctions would only be given after Pyongyang carries out "complete and verifiable" denuclearisation.