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Tensions on the Korean Peninsula

Russian senator comments North Korea-US summit

The US and North Korea summit is scheduled for June 12

SEOUL, May 22. /TASS/. Approaches of the US and North Korea to their summit scheduled for June 12 are too different to expect that major agreements will be reached, Russian senator Andrei Klimov told TASS in Seoul on Tuesday.

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"I don’t rule out that the summit will take place, but I would stop short of saying it will become a starting or a turning point - the initial positions of the countries are too different. If some expectations are involved there apart from handshaking, I am not sure what may come out of these expectations," said Klimov, deputy chairman of the upper house’s international affairs committee.

The senator believes the upcoming summit is important for US President Donald Trump only within the context of the US Congress elections in November. The US president expects that a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will help him strengthen positions and change the balance in favor of the Republicans supporting him, Klimov believes.

"As a former showman, Trump understands that the public needs some events, and such meeting is certainly an event of global importance, while he can perform on the global scene as a winner. In this respect, he is interested in seeing the summit materialize," the senator added.

Kim Jong Un, who despite his young age is more experienced in politics than Trump, does not expect global popularity from these talks, and is not using them for election aims. The summit has a purely practical meaning for him, Klimov said.

"Kim Jong Un will agree for these talks and a meeting with Trump for the sake of certain agreements, preferably on paper. I am not sure Washington is ready for this," the senator added. Trump "is occupied with purely domestic political interests, while Kim Jong Un - strictly pragmatic interests, connected with stabilization of the situation around North Korea," he explained.

"For him, it is a matter of surviving, maintaining his political system, developing the country and decreasing domestic economic and social tensions," Klimov summed up.

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