Moscow calls on US and allies to refrain from provoking tensions and exerting ‘maximum pressure’ on Pyongyang.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has urged the United States and North Korea to start negotiations amid growing tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.
Lavrov told the state-run RIA news agency in a written interview on Monday that there is a need to develop relations with North Korea to resolve the nuclear dispute on the Korean Peninsula
“We firmly believe that not only North Korea, but also the United States, as well as their allies, should refrain from any steps that could provoke a crisis, and finally launch the negotiation process,” he said.
The Russian diplomat reiterated Moscow’s concern over North Korea’s “dangerous” nuclear ambitions, but vowed to “maintain contacts at the highest possible level”.
“We do not share the desire of some states to exert maximum pressure on North Korea, which is often interpreted by them as establishing full economic and political blockade of this country by all available means,” Lavrov added.
