‘Threatening Pyongyang won’t work’

MOSCOW: The proposal of the US to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea would not produce any results – rather, it was necessary to stop the exchange of threats and pressure, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Saturday.

Speaking at the UN Security Council on Friday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US would continue its pressure campaign, urging Russia and China to join the move to bring North Korea to the negotiating table to suspend its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

“It is regrettable that this powerful component of the demands for further pressure on Pyongyang has appeared once again in the US position. We are convinced that sanctions – whether adopted through the UN Security Council, or illegitimate unilateral sanctions that Washington is constantly expanding and perfecting – these sanctions will not yield results,” Ryabkov said, commenting on Tillerson’s statement.

The Russian diplomat stressed that the sides should cease the exchange of threats.

“It is high time to stop engaging in this race of threats, pressure and blackmail, imposing preconditions, and switch to the real search for a political solution,” Ryabkov said.

Tillerson also noted that Washington would not accept any preconditions of negotiations with North Korea, including a “freezefor-freeze” deal involving both sides cutting their military activities, which had been proposed by Russia and China.