North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said peace and security on the Korean Peninsula will entirely depend on Washington's future attitude during his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, state media said Friday.
In the summit held in Russia's Far East city of Vladivostok on Thursday, Kim blamed Washington's "unilateral" attitude for the breakdown of his February meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and the current stalemate in denuclearization negotiations, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
"The situation on the Korean peninsula and the region is now at a standstill and has reached a critical point where it may return to its original state as the U.S. took a unilateral attitude in bad faith at the recent second DPRK-U.S. summit talks," Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA.
"And (he) added that peace and security on the Korean peninsula will entirely depend on the U.S. future attitude, and the DPRK will gird itself for every possible situation," it said, using the initialism of the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Nuclear negotiations have been stalled after the second summit between Kim and Trump in late February ended without an agreement due to differences over Pyongyang's denuclearization steps and Washington's sanctions relief.
In his recent policy speech at the Supreme People's Assembly, Kim expressed a willingness to hold a third summit with Trump but urged Washington to come up with a "fair" and "mutually acceptable" deal. Kim suggested the end of the year as a deadline for the U.S. to come up with a new proposal acceptable to Pyongyang.
Since the no-deal summit, North Korea has been intensifying diplomacy with its neighboring countries, including Russia, in an apparent bid to enlist their support ahead of its future nuclear negotiations with the U.S.
In the Vladivostok meeting, Kim and Putin discussed denuclearization and bilateral relations. Putin, in particular, called for a peaceful resolution of Pyongyang's nuclear problem, while Kim highlighted his "unwavering" will to cement ties with Russia.
The KCNA reported that the two leaders "agreed to more closely promote mutual understanding and bonds, and boost strategic collaboration for ensuring regional peace and security in the future."
Kim invited Putin to visit North Korea "at a convenient time" and the Russian leader accepted the invitation, the KCNA said.
This week's summit was the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries in eight years, after Kim's late father, former leader Kim Jong-il, met then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in 2011.(Yonhap)