Moscow "welcomes" the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un's declaration on halting nuclear tests and calls on the US and Pyongyang to work together to reduce tensions, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday. 

"We welcome the declaration of the Working Party's Chairman Kim Jong Un on the halt of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear and missile tests from April 21," the statement said. 

"We consider the given decision an important step towards the future easing of tensions in the Korean Peninsula," it added. DPRK's leader Kim Jong Un on Friday said he would halt nuclear tests and intercontinental missile launches, in an announcement welcomed by US President Donald Trump ahead of a much-anticipated summit between the two men. 

"We call on the US and the (South) Korean Republic to take adequate reciprocal steps towards lowering military activity in the region and achieving mutually acceptable agreements with the DPRK in the upcoming inter-Korean and American-DPRK summits," the statement said. 

On Friday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow welcomed an expected summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un.  

"We cannot wish this meeting failure," Lavrov said. "We very much hope that he (Trump) starts the process of de-escalating tensions."

Lavrov compared the US and DPRK statements prior to the meeting to tensions between "boxers" before a match. "Before the start of serious conversations it is like boxers entering the ring, showing off in front of one another before the fight," he said. Russia has relatively warm ties with the DPRK, with which it shares a small land border. The United States earlier this year accused Russia of helping Pyongyang evade some international sanctions by supplying fuel to the country. 

The European Union's foreign affairs chief said on Saturday that the DPRK's announcement to stop nuclear tests was a positive step and called for an "irreversible denuclearization" of the Asian country.

The DPRK move "is a positive, long sought-after step on the path that has now to lead to the country's complete,verifiable and irreversible denuclearization," Federica Mogherini said in a statement.

(Top image: DPRK leader Kim Jong Un supervised a ballistic rocket launching drill of Hwasong artillery units of the Strategic Force of the KPA on the spot in this undated photo released by DPRK's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang, March 7, 2017. /Reuters Photo )