MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/. Tensions around North Korea may be eased only by diplomatic means through mutual and collective guarantees of non-interference and implementing resolutions of the UN Security Council, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.
Pyongyang’s missile tests and political, economic and military pressure of the United States, Japan and South Korea exacerbate the current deadlock and both North Korea and Washington with its allies are responsible for this, said Kosachev, who chairs the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Committee for Foreign Affairs.
The senator stressed that there is no and can be no military solution to this standoff, calling on the sides to meet the guarantees. "On the one hand, these are guarantees of non-interference, the collective ones approved by the Council. On the other hand, these are guarantees of compliance with the Security Council’s resolutions, the return to non-proliferation regime and resumption of cooperation with the outside world," he wrote.
"These guarantees may be only mutual and only collective ones. So, there is only one way out: resuming the six-party talks with participation of the above-mentioned countries and also China and Russia. I’m sure that the latter two are ready for this. All that is left to do is to bring others to reason and persuade them," Kosachev said.
Earlier on Monday, North Korea test fired a new missile. According to the United States Pacific Command (USPACOM), Pyongyang launched what appears to be a short range missile. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the missile had flown some 400 km and fell in Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Tokyo has voiced protest to Pyongyang via diplomatic channels, calling the latest missile test a direct violation of the UN Security Council’s resolutions.