Russian foreign minister invites Kim to Moscow during visit to Pyongyang

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to visit Moscow during a visit to Pyongyang on Thursday as Washington aims to resurrect a summit with North Korea on denuclearization. 

“Come to Russia. We would be very happy to see you,” Lavrov told Kim during a televised meeting, according to Reuters.

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Lavrov said Russia, in the short term, “cannot afford to be remembered as the country that had no hat in the ring leading up to June 12,” Reuters added, a reference to the original date of a summit between Kim and President Trump. Trump last week canceled the summit, but held out hope for another meeting.

The meeting between Kim and Lavrov comes after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to New York City on Wednesday to meet with North Korea’s former military intelligence chief and top Kim Jong Un aide Kim Yong Chol in an effort to rekindle plans for a summit

Trump last week cited the North Korean leader’s “tremendous anger and open hostility” toward the U.S. in calling off the meeting.

However, U.S. officials have suggested that it could still happen if talks improve between the two countries. 

“If it happens, we’ll certainly be ready,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Wednesday. “We’re going to continue to shoot for June 12.”