Putin to meet Xi, one day after Kim Jong-un meeting

After holding talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un,... Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday in Beijing.
With the stall in the nuclear negotiations between Pyeongyang and Washington,... all eyes are now on possibility of a stronger alliance forming between North Korea, Russia and China.
Lee Seung-jae has more.
On Thursday,... Russian President Vladimir Putin held his first summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vladivostok.
Just a day later, Putin will sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
China and Russia have repeatedly said they will work together to solve the Korean Peninsula issue.
In particular, as Putin is holding talks with President Xi immediately after his summit with Kim,... it's expected there will be more concrete dialogue on the regime's denuclearization.
Unlike the United States, which is pushing for denuclearization through strict sanctions,... both China and Russia are more keen on pushing for an easing of sanctions in exchange for a step by step approach on North Korea's denuclearization.
Putin has in the past noted that Russia and China would continue to closely coordinate to improve the international situation and form a more fair and democratic world,... reaffirming their long diplomatic ties.
Observers say,... with the strengthened ties between Pyeongyang, Beijing and Moscow,... it should ease pressure on Seoul,... which has long played the mediating role in the nuclear negotiations between Pyeongyang and Washington.
Others say Seoul will be put in a tougher position,... caught in the middle.
While China and Russia have been pushing for the resumption of long-stalled 6-way talks,... another fallout in the nuclear talks between Pyeongyang and Washington,... will only strengthen relations between North Korea, China and Russia.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.

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