A new push for U.S.-DPRK diplomacy remains unlikely in the near term with Washington relentlessly consumed by renewed crises in the Middle East — but when President Donald Trump does return his attention to North Korea, he will find a very different strategic landscape from the one he confronted during his first term. 

A far more confident Pyongyang awaits the U.S. president, one strengthened not only by its advancing nuclear arsenal but by a deepening partnership with Russia that has weakened sanctions, expanded military cooperation and reshaped the terrain for future talks.

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