Putin defends N. Korea after Trump cancels summit

WASHINGTON – Russian President Vladimir Putin says North Korea had fulfilled its promises ahead of the planned summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.

Trump canceled the summit on Thursday, citing "hostility" from North Korea.

But Putin said the North Korean leader "did everything that he had promised in advance, even blowing up the tunnels and shafts" of the country's nuclear testing site. "After which, we heard about cancellation of the summit by the United States."

Putin said: "In Russia, we took this news with regret, because we had very much counted on it being a significant step in sorting out the situation on the Korean peninsula and that it would be the beginning of the process of denuclearizing the whole Korean Peninsula."