We are just learning that the leaders of North Korea and Russia have agreed to hold a summit this year.
This was reported Friday morning -- around an hour ago -- by the North's state-run media.
This,.. after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un received an invitation for a trip to Moscow by the Russian President, along with a letter from Putin himself.
No word yet on whether it will involve Kim going to Moscow or Putin going the other way.... or when it will be.
Meeting with the visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday,... Kim Jong-un stressed he's committed to denuclearization and hoped for a phased process in resolving the issue.
Park Hee-jun reports.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his visit to Pyongyang-- marking the first visit between the head of North Korea and a Russian official.

"We warmly welcome your delegation again in our country. And I think that your visit is a sign of how much attention the Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin's government are putting into widening and strengthening relations between our countries."

According to Russia's Foreign Ministry,... Lavrov told Kim that his nation also supports peace on the Korean Peninsula,... as well as the Panmunjom Declaration.
After discussing bilateral relations,... the Russian diplomat also passed on greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Kim,... and invited him to visit Russia.

And earlier in the day, in a separate meeting with Pyongyang's Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho ,... Lavrov called for international sanctions against North Korea to be scaled back,... to solve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

"It is absolutely obvious that beginning any discussion of the nuclear problem and all other programs of the Korean peninsula,... we base our judgement on the fact that this decision cannot be complete without repealing all sanctions."

He added that denuclearization cannot happen in one move.
Instead there must be several stages,... with each stage seeing a two-way road.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News.