Any summit between the leaders of North Korean and the U.S. — regardless of the outcome — is likely to be a big win for Pyongyang, according to the former top American diplomat for the Asia-Pacific region.

Daniel Russel, who served as assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs until March 2017, told The Japan Times this week during a visit to Tokyo that merely holding a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un, expected before the end of next month, would be a boon for Pyongyang.

Russel, who now serves as vice president for security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, was in Tokyo for the opening of the group's first Japan center.