The Russian president then declared Kim had won the latest stand-off with the West over his nuclear and missile programmes.
He said: “I think Kim Jong-un has obviously won this round.
“He has completed his strategic task: he has a nuclear weapon, he has missiles of global reach – up to 13,000km which can reach almost any point of the globe.”
Russia has voted at the United Nations in favour of international sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear programme while urging the West to show restraint and calling for talks over the issue.
Mr Putin said dialogue with North Korea was warranted and said Kim now wanted to calm the situation.
He said: “He is already a shrewd and mature politician.”
North Korea and South Korea held talks on Tuesday after a prolonged period of tension on the Korean peninsula over Kim’s missile and nuclear programmes.
Mr Putin’s remarks came after US President Donald Trump said the US was willing to speak to North Korea “under the right circumstances”.
Mr Trump is understood to have told South Korean President Moon Jae-in there would be no military action while North-South talks were ongoing.
The White House later dismissed a Wall Street Journal article saying the President was contemplating a military strike against North Korea as “completely wrong.”
Mr Trump said: “Who knows where it leads?. Hopefully it will lead to success for the world, not just for our country, but for the world.
“And we’ll be seeing over the next number of weeks and months what happens.
“I see a lot of good energy. I like it very much. So, hopefully, a lot of good things are going to work out.
“I think that we will have peace through strength.”