Vladimir Putin has insisted that imposing sanctions on Kim Jong-un in a bid to block the dictator’s nuclear ambitions is a ‘dead-end road’.
The Russian President warned that the North Korea crisis is ‘balancing on the brink of a large-scale conflict’ and that threatening Pyongyang was a ‘futile’ exercise’.
Earlier this month, the United Nations Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea – targeting exports such as coal – in response to two long-range missile launches in July.
But Putin wrote in an article: ‘Russia believes that the policy of putting pressure on Pyongyang to stop its nuclear missile programme is misguided and futile.
Vladimir Putin has insisted that imposing sanctions on Kim Jong-un in a bid to block the dictator’s nuclear ambitions is a ‘dead-end road’
Earlier this month, the United Nations Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea – targeting exports such as coal – in response to two long-range missile launches in July
‘The region’s problems should only be settled through a direct dialogue of all the parties concerned without any preconditions. Provocations, pressure and militarist and insulting rhetoric are a dead-end road.’
According to the Russian news agency Tass, the Russian president described the situation on the Korean Peninsula as ‘balancing on the brink of a large-scale conflict.’
He said Russia and China ‘have created a roadmap for a settlement on the Korean Peninsula that is designed to promote the gradual easing of tensions and the creation of a mechanism for lasting peace and security.’
Putin’s comments echoed those of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who in a Wednesday telephone call with US counterpart Rex Tillerson ‘underscored… the need to refrain from any military steps that could have unpredictable consequences.’
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years after a series of missile tests by Pyongyang
The US has placed sanctions on Russia in the wake of Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014. The latest package, approved on August 2, is designed to hurt Russia’s energy sector.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years after a series of missile tests by Pyongyang.
Early on Tuesday, the reclusive state fired an intermediate-range Hwasong-12 over Japan, prompting US President Donald Trump to insist that ‘all options’ were on the table in an implied threat of pre-emptive military action.
The UN Security Council denounced North Korea’s latest missile test, unanimously demanding that Pyongyang halt the programme.
US heavy bombers and stealth jet fighters took part in a joint live fire drill in South Korea on Thursday, intended as a show of force against the North, Seoul said.