U.S. looks to Russia to help nuclear impasse

China’s increasingly icy posture is thrusting Russia forward as North Korea’s preferred diplomatic partner, forcing the Trump administration to turn to Moscow for help in isolating the rogue, nuclear-armed nation.

Beijing’s close ties to Pyongyang have been strained since leader Kim Jong Un ordered the 2013 execution of his uncle, who had been the countries’ chief liaison. Since then, the allies once said to be as “close as lips and teeth” have moved further apart over China’s adoption of U.N. sanctions designed to starve North Korea of revenue for its nuclear and missile programs.

But China isn’t North Korea’s only traditionally friendly neighbor. And for the United States, Russia’s increased importance comes at an uncomfortable time. The State Department warned countries and companies around the world Friday that they risk being blacklisted if they do business with dozens of Russian firms. Investigations also continue into allegations Russia interfered in last year’s U.S. presidential election.

“Russia could play a useful diplomatic role,” said Joseph Yun, the U.S. envoy to North Korea. “If Russia delivers a unified message with the U.S., China, South Korea and Japan that the U.S. is not interested in regime change but rather we want to resolve the WMD issue, they can help better than anyone else to convince them of that.”

Yun said he and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson want Moscow to support the international pressure campaign against North Korea by implementing U.N. sanctions, and to urge the isolated, often inscrutable government to engage in diplomatic efforts.

Like China, Russia has urged a peaceful resolution as Kim and President Trump trade personal insults and threats of war. CIA Director Mike Pompeo recently said Pyongyang is only months away from a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the United States, a timeline that has raised American alarm and escalated fears of a resumption of the 1950-53 Korean War.

In the meantime, Russia has cast itself as a potential go-between.

Choe Son-hui, director-general of the North America bureau at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, has visited Moscow twice in the past month — most recently to attend a nonproliferation conference where she spoke on a panel alongside a nongovernmental American expert and a senior Russian diplomat.

Suzanne DiMaggio, the American who sat on the panel with Choe, said: “If you look at all the major players in this crisis, the only one with a working relationship with Pyongyang is Moscow.”