Russia secretly offered North Korea a nuclear power plant, officials say

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russia-secretly-offered-north-korea-a-nuclear-power-plant-officials-say/2019/01/29/d1872588-a99b-4b68-ba34-9ce1bc95b573_story.html

Russia secretly offered North Korea a nuclear power plant, officials say
By John Hudson and Ellen Nakashima
January 29 at 11:55 AM


Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, left, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on May 31. (Valery Sharifulin/AFP/Getty Images)

Russian officials made a secret proposal to North Korea last fall aimed at resolving deadlocked negotiations with the Trump administration over the North’s nuclear weapons program, said U.S. officials familiar with the discussions.

In exchange for North Korea dismantling its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, Moscow offered the country a nuclear power plant.

The Russian offer, which intelligence officials became aware of in late 2018, marked a new attempt by Moscow to intervene in the high-stakes nuclear talks as it reasserts itself in a string of geopolitical flash points from the Middle East to South Asia to Latin America.

It’s unclear how President Trump will view Moscow’s proposal. For months, he has embraced an unorthodox approach to the negotiations, but his aides are likely to strenuously oppose any major Russian role in a final agreement.