South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday that he and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin shared an understanding that resolving the North Korea nuclear issue is a top priority for development in East Asia.

Moon, making the comments at a joint media conference with Putin after a meeting in Russia, said the Russian president expressed his full support for South Korea's efforts to handle issues related to North Korea.

Moon added that the situation could get out of hand if North Korea's missile and nuclear tests were not stopped.

Meanwhile, Putin told his Moon that Russia does not recognize a nuclear North Korea.

"I confirmed to Mr Moon Jae In our principled position: We are not recognizing the nuclear status of North Korea," TASS quoted Putin as saying.

But the Russian president insisted that the North Korean nuclear stand-off could not be solved by sanctions, calling for talks.

"It is clear that it is impossible to solve the Korean Peninsula's problems by only sanctions and pressure," Putin said after talks with Moon.

Moon and Putin met on the sidelines of an Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian city of Vladivostok, that began on Wednesday.