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.
