MOSCOW, January 9. /TASS/. The Kremlin welcomes the direct dialogue between representatives of the DPRK and the Republic of Korea, since this is the only way of easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters commenting on the beginning of the first round of the dialogue on mending relations between Pyongyang and Seoul.
"We welcome direct contacts between representatives of the two Koreas. We believe it is only possible to achieve de-escalation of tensions through this dialogue, and this is precisely the dialogue the Russian leadership said was necessary," the Kremlin spokesman said.
Peskov recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly spoken out in favor of creating the necessary conditions for reviving this dialogue and stressed it was necessary to refrain from any actions, steps and statements that could hinder that.
The first round of dialogue on normalizing relations between Seoul and Pyongyang began on Tuesday morning. Among the issues that will top the agenda of the inter-Korean talks, the first since December 2015, will be practical steps to improve relations between the two countries, in particular, the possible participation of North Korean athletes in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.