Sanctions will never make Kim give up his nukes, warns Putin
VLADIMIR PUTIN, the Russian president, said yesterday that Us-led calls for harsher sanctions on North Korea were futile, and warned that military escalation could lead to a global catastrophe.
Mr Putin called North Korea’s nuclear test on Sunday “provocative” but said that Pyongyang rightfully feared for its security and that Kim Jong-un “definitely won’t forget” the Us-led military actions in Libya and Iraq. Saddam Hussein gave up his weapons of mass destruction only to be hanged after the US invasion, he said.
Speaking at the closure of the Brics summit in Beijing – which hosted the leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Africa – Mr Putin added: “The use of any kind of sanctions in this situation is already useless and ineffective. They will eat grass but they won’t give up (the nuclear) programme if they don’t feel safe.”
Mr Putin’s comments came as concern grew that the North was planning to carry out another weapons test – possibly the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile to mark the anniversary of its founding this Saturday.
South Korea responded with its second show of force in two days, dispatching warships to conduct live-fire drills. More naval drills are expected this week, the defence ministry said.
While France’s defence minister said yesterday that North Korea could develop ballistic missiles capable of striking targets in Europe sooner than expected, China has been censoring its media and internet to stifle alarmist talk.
Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, is keen to ensure stability in the run-up to the Communist Party’s crucial Party Congress next month, while propaganda chiefs are keen for the spotlight to be on the Brics summit, where Mr Putin pushed back against the “military hysteria” as the way to a “global planetary catastrophe,” calling instead for a renewal of dialogue without any “threat of (North Korea’s) destruction”.
He said it was “absurd” to ask Russia to support sanctions against North Korea when it itself was under US sanctions and poked fun at a reporter who asked if he was disappointed in Donald Trump, the US president, and their failure to build better relations. “He’s not my bride, I’m also not his bride, nor groom,” he said. “We’re involved in government activities, and each country has its own interests.”
Mr Putin said that Russia couldn’t pressure Pyongyang economically since its exports to North Korea amounted to essentially “nothing”. But tens of thousands of North Koreans have been working in construction and logging camps in Russia in conditions the United Nations has called “slave-like,” providing much-needed hard currency to Kim Jong-un’s regime.