MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s visit to Russia may take place soon, head of the group of friendship between the Federation Council and North Korea’s parliament Oleg Melnichenko said.

"It is known that during Valentina’s [Matviyenko, Federation Council Speaker - TASS] visit to North Korea last year the corresponding invitation [to Kim Jong-un] was sent. To date, I think that everything remains in the consultations mode; this issue was not specially discussed during our visit, but it will likely happen in the near future," Melnichenko told journalists after his trip to North Korea.

Yonhap News Agency earlier reported about the visit of a senior North Korean official to Moscow to prepare for a visit of the North Korean leader to Russia. Besides, the North Korean newspaper Dong-a Ilbo reported that Kim Jong-un plans to visit Russia to gain its support following the failed summit with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi. The newspaper says that the buildup of contacts between North Korean and Russia shows it. According to the newspaper, in March this year North Korea’s senior diplomats visited Moscow three times.

The Federation Council’s delegation visited the DPRK on March 16-21. The trip was held at the invitation of the North Korean side and was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the treaty on cooperation between the DPRK and the Soviet Union, which was signed on March 17, 1949. The delegation included chairman of the group of friendship Melnichenko, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee for Constitutional Legislation and State Construction Alexander Bashkin and First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs Sergei Kislyak.