MOSCOW • Russia and China yesterday called for a simultaneous freeze on North Korean nuclear and missile tests and military exercises by the United States as tensions ratcheted up on the peninsula..
MOSCOW • Russia and China yesterday called for a simultaneous freeze on North Korean nuclear and missile tests and military exercises by the United States as tensions ratcheted up on the peninsula.
“The two sides propose that the DPRK (North Korea) as a voluntary political decision declares a moratorium on testing nuclear explosive devices and ballistic rocket launches, and the US and South Korea refrain from carrying out large-scale joint exercises, ” their foreign ministries said in a joint statement.
“Parallel to this, the opposing sides should start negotiations and affirm general principles of their relations, including the non-use of force, rejection of aggression and peaceful coexistence, ” the statement said.
The joint statement, issued after a meeting between their leaders, Mr Vladimir Putin and Mr Xi Jinping, in Moscow followed an announcement by North Korea that it had test-fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile.
The claim could be a watershed moment in Pyongyang’s push to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting mainland US – although Moscow and Washington cast doubt it was a long-range missile.
