Moscow — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet on Thursday in the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok to discuss the international standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, a Kremlin official said. The visit is part of Kim’s effort to build foreign support after the breakdown of a second US-North Korea summit in Vietnam in February meant no relief on sanctions for North Korea, analysts said. The summit will be the first between Putin and the North Korean leader and the nuclear row, and how to resolve it, would be the main item on the agenda, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters. “In the last few months the situation around the peninsula has stabilised somewhat, thanks in large part to North Korea’s initiatives of stopping rocket testing and closing its nuclear test site,” Ushakov said. “Russia intends to help in any way possible to cement that positive trend.” The North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Tuesday the visit woul...

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