The forum in the far eastern Russian city is symbolic of Moscow’s push for closer diplomatic and economic ties with Asia as its relations with the West are in crisis
Nuclear-armed North Korea will be in the spotlight as Russia’s Vladimir Putin begins meetings with Asian leaders on Monday, aiming to drive regional diplomacy as a push backed by US President Donald Trump appears to stall.
A week before the third summit between the two Koreas in five months begins in Pyongyang, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korea’s Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon converge on Vladivostok for an economic forum held September 11-13.
The event in the far eastern Russian city is symbolic of Moscow’s push for closer diplomatic and economic ties with Asia as its relations with the West are in crisis.
It will also allow the Kremlin to discuss the dramatic rapprochement between Trump and Kim Jong-un with key regional players.
Kim was also invited to the Vladivostok forum but will not attend, a Russian lawmaker said at the weekend.
Japan’s Abe is set to meet Putin on Monday evening to discuss “boosting economic cooperation and commercial exchanges” but also to “exchange views on the situation on the Korean peninsula,” said Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov.
Talks with China’s Xi – the third meeting this year – are planned for Tuesday, and a meeting with Lee Nak-yeon on Wednesday.
Russia and China both have land borders with North Korea and were its allies in the Korean conflict in the early 1950s.
