After a 90-minute dinner in New York on Wednesday night, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and high-ranking North Korean official Kim Yong Chol will have a second round of talks on Thursday morning to work on a denuclearization framework ahead of an on-again, off-again June 12 summit in Singapore between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. South Korea has been integral in laying the groundwork for a Kim-Trump summit, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has hosted Kim twice as Beijing staked its claim in the prospective peace talks. On Thursday, Russia stuck its toe in, too.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Kim and North Korea's foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, in Pyongyang on Thursday, following Ri's May trip to Moscow. The official reason for the visit was to discuss bilateral issues, North Korea's nuclear program, and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, but it was widely "seen as an attempt by Moscow to make its voice heard in its neighbor state's new push for diplomacy," The Associated Press reports. "Despite having a border with the North and relatively cordial relations that President Vladimir Putin has seemed to want to develop further, Russia has so far remained largely on the sidelines as Kim has emerged onto the world stage this year."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Global court issues arrest warrant for NetanyahuSpeed Read The International Criminal Court issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who stand accused of war crimes
-
Gaetz bows out, Trump pivots to Pam BondiSpeed Read Gaetz withdrew from attorney generation consideration, making way for longtime Trump loyalist Pam Bondi
-
GOP's Mace seeks federal anti-trans bathroom banSpeed Read Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has introduced legislation to ban transgender people from using federal facilities
-
Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid warSpeed Read Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles and Russia threatened retaliation
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freezeSpeed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
-
Wyoming judge strikes down abortion, pill bansSpeed Read The judge said the laws — one of which was a first-in-the-nation prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy — violated the state's constitution
-
US sanctions Israeli West Bank settler groupSpeed Read The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Amana, Israel's largest settlement development organization
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emergeSpeed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
