Pyongyang, May 25 : North Korea said on Friday that it is ready to sit down for talks with Washington anytime to solve problems between them, after the US side cancelled a planned summit with Pyongyang.

The North Korean side expressed regret over US President Donald Trump's decision to cancel the summit with Kim Jong Un, previously scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

Kim Kye Gwan also said that Trump's decision does not conform to the international community's aspiration for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the whole world.

Trump on Thursday sent a letter to Kim Jong Un, saying that their planned meeting will not happen.

 

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Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday slammed former Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, alleging that he had removed the fear of the law from politicians who defected from parties in Maharashtra.

Raut claimed that by not deciding on the disqualification petitions, Chandrachud kept doors and windows open for defections.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader's statement comes after his party faced a severe drubbing in the state assembly elections, as it managed to clinch only 20 out of 95 seats it contested as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

The performance of the party's alliance partners was no better, with the Congress winning only 16 out of 101 seats and NCP (SP) getting only 10 out of 86 seats it contested.

Talking to reporters, Raut alleged, "He (Chandrachud) has removed the fear of the law from defectors. His name will be written in black letters in history."

Following the split in the undivided Shiv Sena in 2022, the party's faction headed by Uddhav Thackeray filed petitions in the Supreme Court on the disqualification of party MLAs who defected along with Eknath Shinde. The apex court put the onus on the assembly Speaker to decide on the disqualification petitions, which he did earlier this year, declaring the Sena bloc led by Shinde as the “real political party”.

Raut alleged that the results of the assembly election were pre-decided. If the then CJI had decided on the disqualification petitions on time, the outcome would have been different.

"We are sad but not disappointed. We will not leave the fight incomplete. Division of votes was also a factor, and the RSS played an important role in the election. The poisonous campaign impacted us negatively," he said.

He said the swearing-in ceremony for the new government should be held in neighbouring Gujarat.

Meanwhile, in his weekly column "Rokhthok" in the party mouthpiece "Saamana", the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader claimed that it was time to offer condolences to the Election Commission, which turned a blind eye to the use of money power.

"The courts have been in the ICU for a long time," he alleged.