US envoy visits Russia as Putin poised to meet North Korean leader

By Lee Min-hyung

Stephen Biegun

United States special representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun embarked on a two-day trip to Russia, Wednesday, for talks with Russian officials on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

“Stephen Biegun will travel to Moscow April 17 and 18 to meet with Russian officials to discuss efforts to advance the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea,” the U.S. Department of State said Tuesday in a statement.

The visit comes at a critical juncture when speculation is growing that a possible summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is imminent. If the summit is realized, it will be the first time for Putin and Kim to meet.

The U.S. did not share details on Biegun's itinerary there. But the U.S. envoy will discuss the ongoing nuclear deadlock between Washington and Pyongyang in the wake of the failed summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim in Hanoi in February.

Biegun will also likely urge his Russian counterpart to continue implementing international sanctions on the North, as it has become more apparent that tough sanctions are the most effective negotiating chip for Washington to step up pressure against Pyongyang in their nuclear negotiations.

In a secret trip to Beijing last month, Biegun also called on Chinese officials to abide by the United Nations Security Council rulings on North Korea. This is seen as part of Washington's determination to maintain the sanctions as long as there are no verifiable steps toward denuclearization by the North.

Following the breakdown of the Hanoi summit, Washington and Pyongyang are showing no signs of making concessions with each other on the method and timeline for the North's denuclearization.

Even though both sides failed to sign a much-anticipated “Hanoi Declaration,” they agreed to continue holding dialogue. Last week, Trump and Kim also made public their willingness to have a third summit sometime in the near future.

NK-Russia summit

North Korea has long maintained a positive relationship with neighboring countries China and Russia.

In particular, Kim has held four summits with Chinese President Xi Jinping since the beginning of last year when the young dictator started expressing his wish for peace and denuclearization on the peninsula.

Experts argued that Kim has sought to take advantage of China's diplomatic influence to gain leverage in the ongoing nuclear dialogue with the U.S. So expectations are the possible summit between Putin and Kim is also likely to come with similar expectations.

The exact timeline and schedule for the summit have not been made public. But a series of signals have been detected that the Kim-Putin meeting will take place in the near future.

“Russia hinted that the country is making preparations for a summit between Putin and Kim,” First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said in a meeting with Korean correspondents in Moscow, Monday.

The Kremlin also confirmed that the country is arranging a schedule for the summit.

“I can confirm that preparations for the meeting are underway,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

But the Russian government declined to confirm an exact timeframe for the meeting.

“We can't provide any specific information at the moment,” Peskov said.