World

Kremlin says North Korea's Kim could visit Russia next year

07 of November 2018

In this Monday, Nov. 5, 2018 photo released by the North Korean government, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un raise hands together as they watch watch a gymnastics and artistic performance at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP),In this Monday, Nov. 5, 2018 photo released by the North Korean government, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un raise hands together as they watch watch a gymnastics and artistic performance at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says it hopes that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will visit Russia next year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Wednesday that “I hope the visit could be possible next year.” The announcement contrasted with earlier Kremlin statements that Kim was expected to visit Russia this fall.

Last month, the Kremlin said Putin had extended an invitation to Kim to visit Russia and that Moscow was working on the details of where and when that meeting could happen.

North Korea entered talks with the U.S. and South Korea earlier this year, saying it’s willing to negotiate away its advancing nuclear arsenal. Nuclear diplomacy later stalled because of suspicions over how sincere North Korea is about its disarmament pledge.