Putin says he'll brief U.S. on summit with Kim

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- President Vladimir Putin said he's willing to share details with the United States about his summit Thursday with Kim Jong Un, potentially raising Russia's influence in the stalemated issue of North Korean denuclearization.

The two leaders' first one-on-one did not indicate major changes in North Korea's position: Putin said Kim is willing to give up nuclear weapons, but only if he gets ironclad security guarantees.

However, Putin said Kim urged him to explain the nuances of North Korea's position to President Donald Trump. Such an interlocutor role could be meaningful in light of Trump's apparent admiration of the Russian leader.

Trump has said he "fell in love" with Kim, possibly indicating a proclivity to being swayed toward accommodation with the North Korean leader, although that declaration came before the Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi in February collapsed in disagreement.

After Thursday's summit in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok, about 75 miles from the North Korean border, Putin stressed Moscow and Washington both want North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons. But, he said, the security guarantees Kim demands in exchange should be underwritten by multiple countries, hinting at an arrangement like the six-nation talks Russia participated in until their collapse in 2009.

Putin later headed for a two-day trip to Beijing, where he said he will inform the Chinese leadership about the summit.

"And we will just as openly discuss this issue with the U.S. leadership," Putin said. "There are no secrets. Russia's position always has been transparent. There are no plots of any kind."

Putin's remarks reflect Kim's growing frustration with Washington's efforts to maintain "maximum pressure" until the North commits to denuclearization.

But his characterization of Kim's comments also suggests there have been no major changes in North Korea's basic position.

North Korea has all along contended it needs its nuclear arsenal to defend itself against what it sees as U.S. hostility and wants concrete reassurances of its safety -- including the removal of the American nuclear threat as an integral part of the denuclearization of the entire Korean Peninsula.

Trump has made clear he is eager to work out a deal with North Korea and has already indicated he thinks he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Russia's involvement in the issue could bolster his confidence, though some analysts think Washington and Moscow are too far estranged.

"For Russia, I don't think it will deliver any leverage with the U.S. simply because the relations between Russia and the United States are at such a low level," Vasily Kashin, a researcher at Russia's Higher School of Economics, told The Associated Press.

Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of the Russian parliament, saw the summit as burnishing Russia's credentials.

"The fact that Kim Jon Un asked Vladimir Putin to brief the Chinese and U.S. leadership on the results of the summit attests to Russia's significant role as a guarantor of security in the Asia-Pacific region," he was quoted as saying by state news agency Tass.

It wasn't immediately clear what other agreements the leaders might have struck.

Along with a statement of political support, Kim was believed to be looking for some kind of economic support and possibly even a workaround to sanctions forcing more than 10,000 North Korean laborers in Russia to leave by the end of the year. The laborers are a major source of income for Pyongyang.

Putin said they discussed the issue and would find a solution taking into account "humanitarian" factors, though he didn't say what that would be.

On the economic front, both sides share an interest in enhanced cooperation if sanctions are eased.

Russia would like to gain broader access to North Korea's mineral resources, including rare metals. Pyongyang, for its part, covets Russia's electricity supplies and investment to modernize its dilapidated Soviet-built industrial plants, railways and other infrastructure.

For Putin, the summit was also seen as an opportunity for Russia to emerge as an essential player in the North Korean nuclear standoff.

Moscow has kept a relatively low profile as Kim embarked on what has been an audacious diplomatic journey over the past year.

The Putin summit follows four summits with Chinese President Xi Jinping, three with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and two with Trump. Despite the current stalemate, Trump has said he would like to meet Kim again.

Moon said Thursday he will try to hold a fourth summit with Kim and facilitate the resumption of U.S.-North Korea talks.