Putin warns of ‘global catastrophe’

XIAMEN: Russian President Vladimir Putin warned yesterday of a global “catastrophe” unless a diplomatic solution is reached over North Korea, rejecting US calls for further sanctions on Pyongyang as useless.

Mr Putin’s comments appeared to draw the lines for a clash with Washington, which on Monday demanded the “strongest possible measures” against North Korea for detonating what it said was a hydrogen bomb.

The announcement and North Korea’s claim that it could mount the warhead on a missile, dramatically upped the stakes in Pyongyang’s standoff with the international community over its banned weapons programmes.

Mr Putin, speaking after an international gathering in China, said Russia condemned North Korea’s “provocative” actions.

“But resorting to just any sanctions in this situation is useless and inefficient,” he told reporters in the Chinese city of Xiamen following a summit of the five-nation Brics club of emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Mr Putin called for dialogue and warned against other actions that could escalate the crisis.

“All of this can lead to a global planetary catastrophe and a great number of victims,” he said.

World powers are scrambling to react to the latest ominous advance in the North’s rogue weapons programme, which has sent global tensions soaring.

US President Donald Trump has approved in principle the sale of “many billions of dollars’ worth of military weapons and equipment” for South Korea, the White House said on Monday.

South Korea said it fired a volley of ballistic missiles on Monday to simulate an attack on the North’s nuclear test site, followed yesterday by major live-fire drills at sea.

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said Washington would soon present a new sanctions resolution for debate in the coming days.

North Korea’s underground blast had a yield of up to 100 kilotons. That would make it around five times more powerful than the bomb detonated over Hiroshima in 1945.

Ms Haley did not spell out what measures Washington was seeking, but diplomats said they could target oil supplies to North Korea, potentially dealing a major blow to its economy.

New sanctions could also seek to curb tourism to the country and ban North Korean labourers sent abroad.

The Security Council has imposed seven sets of sanctions on North Korea since Pyongyang first tested a nuclear device in 2006, though Pyongyang has repeatedly found ways to circumvent the measures.

The most recent resolutions imposed last month, however, have zeroed in on its already stricken economy, targeting key export sectors such as coal that are a source of hard currency for the regime.

The newest sanctions followed Pyongyang’s firing in July of two intercontinental ballistic missiles that apparently brought much of the US mainland into range.

Ms Haley reiterated US threats to impose sanctions on countries that trade with North Korea.

That could have major reverberations: China is the largest trading partner of both the North and the US.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself, and analysts say it is seeking to strengthen its hand for any future negotiations.