US secretary of state met with British and French counterparts Thursday in London
U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged China to cut oil exports to North Korea to force Pyongyang to rein in its nuclear weapons program during his visit to London on Thursday.
Tillerson’s trip to Britain comes days after the United Nations Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea. He said he had hoped for stronger measures from the U. N., and urged Beijing to use its leverage.
“I am hopeful that China, as a great country, as a world power, will decide on their own and will take it upon themselves to use that very powerful tool of oil supply to persuade North Korea to reconsider its current path toward weapons development, reconsider its approach to dialogue and negotiations in the future, ” he told reporters following meetings with his British and French counterparts.
Tillerson also had strong words for Iran, which he said was “clearly in default” of its expectations over the nuclear agreement. Britain supports the deal, but the United States accuses Tehran of breaching the terms.
“We must take into account the totality of Iranian threats — not just Iran’s nuclear capabilities, that is one piece of our posture toward Iran, ” Tillerson told reporters.
Alongside his British hosts, Tillerson attended a summit on Libya with the country’s U. N. special representative, and delegations from France, the United Arab Emirates, Italy and Egypt.
He said the United Nations has Washington’s full backing in seeking a political settlement.
