By AFPMore by this AuthorVladivostok,Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un meet in Russia's Far East for their first-ever summit on Thursday, with the North Korean leader looking for support in his nuclear stand-off with the United States. Russian and North Korean flags were flying from lamp posts on Vladivostok's Russky island, where the summit was to take place on a university campus. GLOBAL INFLUENCEFor Putin, the summit is a chance to push Russia's agenda of opposing US international influence. The Vladivostok meeting follows repeated invitations from Putin since Kim embarked on a series of diplomatic overtures last year. Since March 2018, the formerly reclusive North Korean leader has held four meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, three with South Korea's Moon Jae-in, two with Trump and one with Vietnam's president.

Source: Daily Nation April 25, 2019 03:45 UTC