North Korea ready to talk DIRECTLY to US: Kim Jong-un ‘wants security guarantees’

Sergey Lavrov, 67, told his United States counterpart Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, during talks today that the reclusive communist regime wanted talks with the US on “security guarantees”.

The Russian news agency RIA claimed that the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wanted direct talks with the US to seek guarantees on their security from Washington.

Mr Lavrov and Mr Tillerson met today in Vienna for wide-ranging talks that not only covered North Korea but also Syria and the Ukraine.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council in Vienna.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement: “The sides discussed further steps to put an end to the civil conflict in Syria via establishing a sustainable negotiating process involving all Syrian political forces, including within the Geneva process and in the format of the forthcoming National Dialogue Congress in Sochi, with concurrent completion of the defeat of international terrorist groups.

“The Russian and US top diplomats also expressed common opinion that North Korea must strictly abide by the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

“Touching on issues of the bilateral agenda, Lavrov pointed to the inadmissibility of pressure on Russian media and diplomats in the United States, including the US special services’ recruitment attempts.”