Major conflict looms over N Korea: Putin
MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday of a “major conflict” looming on the Korean Peninsula, calling for talks to alleviate the crisis after Pyongyang fired a missile over Japan this week.
“The problems in the region will only be solved via direct dialogue between all concerned parties, without preconditions,” Putin said. “Threats, pressure and insulting and militant rhetoric are a dead end,” a statement from his office said, adding that heaping additional pressure on North to curb its nuclear programme was “wrong and futile.”
Tensions on the Peninsula are at their highest after a series of missile tests by Pyongyang.
The reclusive state on Tuesday 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.
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 North, Seoul said.
Putin said he feared the Peninsula was “on the verge of a major conflict” and called for all sides to sign up to a mediation programme drawn up by Moscow and Beijing. He echoed comments by 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.”
The Russia-China plan involves a mutual pause in missile tests by North Korea as well as in joint South Korean-US military exercises. EMBASSY ROW: RUSSIA VOWS TOUGH RESPONSE Russia on Friday promised a “tough response” to a United States order to shut the Russian consulate in San Francisco and offices in Washington and New York, the latest round in a diplomatic tit-for-tat.
The US issued its order on Thursday and gave Russia 48 hours to comply, intensifying tensions between the two countries. President Donald Trump’s administration described its action as retaliation for the Kremlin’s “unwarranted and detrimental” demand earlier this month that the US cut its diplomatic staff in Russia.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow will reply with firmness, but still must decide on the precise response. Both countries now maintain three consulates on each other’s territory and ostensibly similar numbers of diplomats.