Donald Trump’s decision to engage in direct talks with North Korea was a historic step that helped reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

“As soon as the US chose to engage in a direct conversation with North Korea… abandoning their usual, sometimes very harsh and even insulting rhetoric, the hope for a peaceful settlement immediately appeared,” Putin said.

The president has been speaking at a plenary session of the 16th meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi. The annual gathering with high-ranking guests deals with global challenges.

There are still a lot of problems on the way towards peace between North and South Korea, but “the US president’s ability to make extraordinary moves deserves credit.”

For decades, American leaders treated North Korea as a “pariah” and completely ignored Pyongyang, Putin said, adding that it has changed recently.

Mr. Trump was able to make a historic step by crossing the line of misunderstanding and alienation; meeting with Kim Jong-un and launching a negotiation process.

Trump and Kim first held talks in Singapore in June 2018, with two more meetings, including one at the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas, taking place this year. Before starting negotiations, US leader even threatened to use force against North Korea over its military nuclear program and continued ballistic missile tests.

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The negotiations have led to some kind of de-escalation, though both sides also traded accusations of trying to undermine the peace talks. The mere fact of the talks, however, has been praised worldwide, including by Moscow.

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