Is Russia Trying To Derail The Korean Peace Process?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meet in Pyongyang on May 31.

Konstantin Eggert, DW: Kremlin courts North Korea to thwart Donald Trump

Donald Trump has made progress with North Korea's regime. In the spirit of Cold War II, the Kremlin will use every opportunity to complicate the US's North Korea policy, Russian journalist Konstantin Eggert writes.

At the end of 2017, one of the Russian research centers that regularly supply state institutions with recommendations sent Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Kremlin a set of proposals aimed at reviving relations with the US, a reliable diplomatic source told me.

The proposals included intensifying dialogue on Ukraine and initiating contact to agree on mutual guarantees against cyberattacks, as well as helping Donald Trump in his outreach to North Korea. The experts argued that the US president, who is constantly criticized for everything he does, would be grateful for any support that would enable him to achieve at least some success in the international arena. And, because decreasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula is fully compatible with Russia's long-term interests, why not try this out?

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WNU Editor: In the past .... Russia did have the clout to influence North Korean policy and actions. Today ....I am not sure. Having Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov go to Pyongyang and tell North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to "not make any unilateral concessions on scrapping your nuclear and ballistic missile programs until the Trump administration starts lifting sanctions on North Korea" is something that  I am sure Kim Jong-un has heard from everyone in the past few months. But advice costs nothing .... and I sense that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wants something more than the status quo or helping the Russians to stick it to President Trump.