A Putin-Kim summit is long overdue

Editor's note: Gleb Ivashentsov is Russian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and vice president at the Russian International Affairs Council. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of APD.

This month there have been a number of notable events in the Russia-the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) contacts. A delegation of the Federation Council – the upper house of the Russian Parliament – visited Pyongyang inMarch followed by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia Vladimir Kolokoltsev in early April, to be followed by a delegation of the State Duma – the lower house of the Russian Parliament in mid-April.

In turn, only in March, at least three different DPRK delegations visited Moscow, as well as one of the assistants to the DPRK leader responsible for the preparation of logistics before his foreign trips.

Media outlets speculate whether all those visits just precede a visit by Kim Jong Un to Moscow. Russia, a direct neighbor of the DPRK, is one of the parties most interested in dismantling the DPRK nuclear missile program. Moscow does not recognize the DPRK as a nuclear power, considers its nuclear missile program as a security threat in Northeast Asia, and voted for all relevant UN Security Council resolutions, including sanctions against Pyongyang.

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un share a joke before a summit meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole in Hanoi, Vietnam, February 27, 2019. /VCG Photo

At the same time, Moscow rejects the solution of the problem in any way except political. That is why in 2017, together with China, Russia, at the level of foreign ministers, adopted a roadmap to resolve the nuclear missile crisis on the Korean Peninsula. The map involves three stages: first, to build confidence and avoid provocative actions, such as nuclear testing and launching of missiles by the DPRK and large-scale disproportionate naval and air exercises by the U.S. and the Republic of Korea.

Then, as mutual trust grows, contacts were to be made, proposals put forward, a balance of interests sought and actions synchronized in the format of “action for action.” At the last stage, the map assumed the formation of a mechanism of peace and security in Northeast Asia.

The events around the Korean Peninsula in the last one and a half years have developed in this very sequence reaching presently the second stage of the roadmap which is "bilateral negotiations" on the U.S.-DPRK and inter-Korean tracks.

Russia, however, doesn't stay away from the Korean issues. Serious multilevel interaction on Pyongyang's programs is going on with China, including coordinating positions on international platforms, primarily in the UN Security Council, where Russia supports easing sanctions against the DPRK.

Pyongyang is strictly fulfilling its obligations to suspend nuclear tests and missile launches, so the UN Security Council should think about easing sanctions pressure, eliminating, as a first measure, for example, sanctions that prevent the implementation of inter-Korean projects, including the work of the Kaesong industrial complex and the railway reunification of the two Koreas.

Russia has contacts with the U.S. on Korean affairs as well. In these contacts, Moscow proceeds from the fact that the tough ultimatum position with which Washington is talking to the DPRK will not bring results. Pyongyang needs security guarantees.

After all, it will have to take a number of irreversible actions, such as providing access to confidential information for verification purposes, not to mention the physical dismantling of nuclear and missile infrastructure. At the same time, all steps on the part of the U.S. are easily reversible: military exercises can be resumed, sanctions restored, diplomatic recognition canceled, etc.

Moscow has also active and substantial talks with the Republic of Korea (ROK) which was evidenced by the Russian-ROK summit in June 2018.

After the failure of the dialogue with the U.S., Pyongyang would like to demonstrate good relations with another major power, as well as to discuss the expansion of trade and economic cooperation against the backdrop of sanctions against the DPRK. Kim's visit to Russia is a logical continuation of the political dialogue that Moscow and Pyongyang supported throughout the year. It is designed to bring a new element to the settlement of the nuclear problem of the Korean Peninsula.

The Putin-Kim summit is long overdue after Kim's four meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, three with ROK President Moon Jae-in and two with U.S. President Donald Trump.

(CGTN)