Russian Foreign Minister accepts invitation to visit DPRK

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Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has announced he will pay a visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) at the invitation of his counterpart Ri Yong Ho.

Ri said from Moscow he hoped the two countries would reach “a new milestone” in their relation this year.

Speaking after holding bilateral talks, Lavrov said there has been “real development on the ground” towards a de-escalation of the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

"We welcome the gradual normalization of the situation and the cessation of mutual threats, and the readiness for contacts between North Korea [the DPRK] and the United States," Lavrov said.

The meeting in Moscow was the latest in a series of high-level diplomatic meetings involving DPRK diplomats.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and his DPRK counterpart Ri Yong Ho enter a hall during a meeting in Moscow, April 10, 2018. /Reuters Photo

The DPRK leader Kim Jong Un made a surprise visit to China last month where he met with President Xi Jinping in his first announced foreign trip since he took power in 2011.

The DPRK Foreign Minister also traveled to Beijing last week for talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

At the end of April, Kim Jong Un and the President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Moon Jae-in are set to hold a landmark summit in the border town of Panmunjom.

It will only be the third ever meeting between the leaders of the two countries.

A date has not been set for a planned meeting between the DPRK and the US, but President Donald Trump said he expects it could take place as early as May.

During a visit to Moscow in early April, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he hopes the proposed meeting between the leaders of the US and the DPRK could "take the fuse" out of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The Russian government says it encourages dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.

The increasing openness of diplomatic channels has emerged amid something of a thaw in relations, which began with cooperation between the DPRK and ROK at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Russia has been attempting to assert itself as a player in the de-escalation of friction on the peninsula, being one of the three countries to share a border with the DPRK.

DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho visits Moscow, April 10, 2018. /Reuters Photo

In 2017, Moscow offered to mediate the inter-Korean talks.

In the same year, the Russian government wrote off the DPRK’s Soviet-era debt to the tune of more than 10 billion US dollars.

The two countries share a number of interests, including an 18km-long border in Russia’s far east. Russia is also one of the largest providers of food aid to the DPRK and an estimated 35,000 DPRK citizens work in Russia.

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