Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday on a mission to get Moscow back into the diplomatic fray surrounding North Korea and, ultimately, boost Russia’s economic and security standing in the region.

Mr Lavrov is paying his first visit to North Korea since April 2009 and was due to hold talks with Ri Yong-ho, his local counterpart, over bilateral relations and ongoing developments on the Korean Peninsula.

Immediately after touching down, Mr Lavrov called for the phased lifting of sanctions on North Korea, suggesting that Pyongyang would not give up its nuclear weapons until the sanctions were scaled back.

“As for sanctions, it is absolutely obvious that, as we start discussions on how to resolve the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula, it is understood that the solution cannot be comprehensive without the lifting of sanctions”, Mr Lavrov said in a press conference.

“This cannot be achieved at one go”, he added. “There can be no immediate denuclearisation, this should be done step by step and all sides should go half-way during every single phase of this process”.