By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been invited to take part in the 2018 Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian city of Vladivostok, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

Peskov's comments came after Pyongyang’s state-run KCNA news agency announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had expressed his readiness to meet Kim “at an early date” in a telegram on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese rule, which is marked as a holiday in both the North and the South.

The spokesman confirmed Putin sent such a telegram, saying it was "a traditional telegram to underline the desire and readiness to establish the dialogue and to develop relations".

In this telegram Putin invited Kim to take part in the 2018 Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September, Peskov told journalists at a conference call in Moscow.

"So far we have received no specifics, no confirmation on this point from Pyongyang," he said.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he passed on Putin's invitation during his visit to Pyongyang in May. The invitation did not contain a specific place or date but several options were offered, he added.