Ahead of Trump-Kim summit, Russia claims Washington sought its advice

Hanoi, Feb 26: As the world turned its focus on Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, to see US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un getting ready for their second summit inside a year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday, February 25, claimed Washington had asked for Moscow's advice while approaching the two-day summit starting Wednesday, February 27.

According to an Associated Press report, Russia's state media revealed Lavrov's remarks in which he said the Kremlin believed Washington should offer "security guarantees" to Pyongyang in exchange for a deal seeking abandonment of its nuclear arsenal.

According to Lavrov, the US even asked for Russia's "advice, views on this or that scenario" ahead of the summit.

The Washington did not immediately respond despite being asked on the matter of reaching out to Russia, The Hill reported.

Trump departed for Hanoi on Monday, February 25, while Kim took a marathon train journey from Pyongyang to Hanoi covering 4,000 kilometres that took two-and-half days to reach on Tuesday, February 26.

Trump has expressed optimism over the upcoming summit and asserted his belief that North Korea could emerge as an economic power if it took the path of denuclearisation.

However, though Trump's first summit with Kim in Singapore in June 2018 generated a lot of excitement and optics, the outcome of the meeting was not too encouraging.