Kim a 'professional, well-trained' leader: Russia

Putin and Kim held their first-ever meeting in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok on Thursday. After a private conversation, which lasted around two hours, talks in expanded format were held, with participation of Russian and North Korean delegations. The discussion focused on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the bilateral relations, including the possibility to construct new power lines and oil and gas pipelines coming from Russia to North Korea.

"Frankly speaking, the North Korean leader proved to be a highly professional and well-trained head of state during [talks in] expanded format ... He is aware of all the details related to bilateral projects or prospective bilateral projects that can be launched after UN sanctions and other restrictions, which are currently in place and which significantly damage the development of our bilateral cooperation, are lifted," Peskov said during the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program aired by the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

The spokesman further praised Kim's "vivid reactions" and the fact that the North Korean leader had his own stand on everything.

"He conveys the impression of being quite an experienced, well-educated and very balanced leader," Peskov added.

Both Putin and Kim were satisfied with the meeting. While Kim assessed the talks as a "very substantive tete-a-tete exchange of views on the issues of mutual interest and pressing issues," Putin described the North Korean leader as "quite an open person."

Image credit: UNI