It was only weeks ago that Kim Jong-un and President Trump held their fateful second summit in Vietnam, preceded by the American leader’s declarations about how the pair fell in love during the exchange of “beautiful letters”. The romance swiftly broke up when Mr Trump walked out, calling off the talks after his North Korean counterpart refused to commit to giving up nuclear weapons before sanctions were lifted. Now Mr Kim is wooing another suitor, President Putin, unsettling the United States and demonstrating that he has other friends to turn if that relationship comes to an end. For Mr Putin there are pressing reasons to engage Mr Kim: Moscow does not want an unstable, nuclear-armed pariah state on its border. But the optics of the…

Source: The Times April 25, 2019 11:03 UTC