Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un officially kicked off a historic summit in Vladivostok, Russia, on Thursday.
Putin met Kim at the entrance to the university building where the summit is being held, standing with a Russian honor guard on a red carpet. After Kim exited his limousine the two exchanged a long, warm handshake.
The pair then went inside to begin talks, posing in a pair of white chairs with Russian and North Korean flags behind them as they delivered opening remarks at Far Eastern State University.
Putin told Kim that he welcomed his efforts to “normalize North Korean and American relations.”
“We welcome, of course, your efforts to develop the inter-Korean dialogue and to normalize North Korean-American relations,” Putin told Kim, after welcoming him to the summit.
The meeting is the first time Putin and Kim have met since he became North Korea’s ruler in 2011 and comes against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s efforts to make North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons and the U.S. president’s own two summits with Kim in the past year.
Putin said that he believed the summit would help them understand what Russia can do to help resolve the conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
“It will allow us to better understand by what ways we can resolve the situation on the Korean Peninsula, what we can do together, what Russia can do to support those processes which are happening now.”
Kim said he hoped the meeting would allow them to “evaluate the situation and to exchange options,” praising the “deep roots” of friendly Russian-North Korean relations.
Putin said he had been hoping to meet Kim for a long time. “Welcome,” he said.
Kim, a notoriously nervous flyer, arrived via an armored train in Vladivostok, a port city on the Pacific coast, on Wednesday. The university is located on Russky Island, a large island connected to Vladivostok.
The summit is billed as a way for Russia and North Korea to bolster their relations and discuss the dispute over the North’s nuclear weapons. Russia has been involved for years in efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenal and has joined with the U.S. in imposing tough United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang. But Russia has also sought to maintain friendly relations, which draw on the countries’ shared Communist past, and the Kremlin has criticized the U.S. for being overly aggressive and relying too heavily on sanctions to persuade the North Koreans.
On Thursday at their meeting, Kim thanked Putin for meeting him.
“I want to thank you dear Mr. President for inviting me, and despite your extremely busy schedule, you hosted my visit and traveled thousands of kilometres to come here and meet me,” Kim said.
Kim is expected to remain in Vladivostok for another day after Putin leaves to tour cultural sites. Details of the summit’s preparations have been closely held, but some have leaked out in Russian and South Korean media reports.
The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported this week that Kim’s itinerary may include a trip to a local theater or the Russian Pacific Fleet’s museum, as well as to a number of other sites that Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, visited during a similar official trip he made in 2002.
