Putin meets Macron, says North Korea summit end regrettable
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin, meeting with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, said Thursday that North Korea fulfilled its promises ahead of the cancelled summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.
At a joint news conference at the Konstantin Palace presidential residence outside St. Petersburg, Putin said the North Korean leader “did everything that he had promised in advance, even blowing up the tunnels and shafts” of the country’s nuclear testing site. “After which, we heard about cancellation of the summit by the United States.”
He said Russia regretted the development, adding that “we had very much counted on it being a significant step in sorting out the situation on the Korean peninsula and that it would be the beginning of the process of denuclearizing the whole Korean peninsula.”
Macron expressed hope that the efforts in Korea for “engagement toward a process of non-proliferation and denuclearization can continue.”