Riyaz ul Khaliq
20 June 2019•Update: 21 June 2019
ANKARA
Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Thursday discussed on ways to achieve denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, according to Chinese state media.
Beijing wants to play "a positive and constructive role in achieving denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula and long-term peace and stability in the region, Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying.
The statement comes during a meeting between Xi and Kim in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, as part of Chinese leader's two-day official tour to the reclusive state.
Xi expressed his country's willingness to provide assistance for North Korea "to address its legitimate security and development concerns, strengthen coordination and cooperation" with Pyongyang.
He applauded Pyongyang's effort to promote the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and safeguard peace and stability in the region.
Both leaders agreed “to create a bright future of inter-party and inter-state relations at a new starting point in history”, said the report.
Xi said that the Beijing-Pyongyang friendship was "a strategic choice made by the two sides with a long-term and overall perspective and will not waver due to changes in the international situation.”
Kim, for his part, stated that his country took "many active measures to avoid tensions and control the situation on the Korean Peninsula" but had not received "positive responses from the party concerned", referring the U.S. administration.
U.S. President Donald Trump has held two summits with Kim since June 2018, but there has been no tangible step towards denuclearization on the peninsula. Pyongyang has repeatedly blamed Washington for talks breaking down between the two countries.
