Slideshow ( 2 images )

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea’s will for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula remains “unchanged, consistent and fixed,” said leader Kim Jong Un, according to the North’s state news agency on Friday.

Making the remarks in a meeting with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kim added he hoped North Korea-U.S. relations and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula would both be solved on a “stage-by-stage” basis, KCNA said.

The report also said Kim and Lavrov agreed to boost exchanges and cooperation between North Korea and Russia, with the two agreeing on a bilateral summit this year.