Russia reportedly made a secret offer to North Korea last year to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme in exchange for a nuclear power plant.

According to the Washington Post, the deal was proposed last autumn as a potential solution to an ongoing diplomatic impasse between the US and North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile arsenal.

It has been viewed as a power play by Moscow to elevate its role in the regional peace negotiations about the Korean peninsula, but the chances of success for such a strategy have been met with scepticism by international policy analysts.

The paper reported that under the proposed arrangement the Russian government would operate the power plant and transfer all byproducts back to Russia, with the aim of providing North Korea with a much-needed energy source while denying it the chance to use the plant to make weapons.

Intelligence officials reportedly became aware of the Russian move in 2018, but it is not known how the US administration responded or whether the offer is still on the table.