The Washington Post:

HANOI — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov inserted himself into the high-stakes nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea ahead of the second meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam’s capital on Wednesday.

Lavrov told reporters during a visit to Vietnam’s commercial capital, Ho Chi Minh City, earlier this week that the “Americans are seeking our advice” on the negotiations and that Washington should end its strategy of issuing ultimatums to Pyongyang.

The Russians and Chinese have long sought a bigger role in the negotiations akin to the Six Party Talks for North Korea that took place during the George W. Bush administration. And last year, Moscow went so far as to secretly offer Pyongyang a nuclear power plant in exchange for the dismantling of its nuclear and ballistic missile program.

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