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Kremlin says Kim Jong Un will visit Russia this month

FILE - In this April 9, 2019, file photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un addresses the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang. Kim is cautiously turning up the heat after his unsuccessful summit with U.S. President Trump in Hanoi two months ago. Returning to military optics for the first time in five months, Kim on Tuesday, April 16, 2019 paid a surprise visit to an Air Force base to inspect fighter combat readiness and followed that up the next day by supervising the test of what the North's official media described ominously - but ambiguously, and without any photos or video - as a new type of "tactical guided weapon. "Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

MOSCOW — The Kremlin says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will visit Russia later this month.

It said in a brief statement Thursday that Kim will visit Russia “in the second half of April” on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation, but gave no further details.

Russian media have been abuzz in recent days with rumours about the rare meeting between the leaders.

Putin is set to visit China later this month, and some media speculated that he could meet with Kim in Vladivostok, the far eastern port city near the border with North Korea.

The Associated Press