All news

Unconventional approaches needed to settle crisis with DPRK - Russia’s UN envoy

Sanctions "cannot be a goal in itself" but must serve as a tool of engaging North Korea in negotiations, the diplomat said

THE UNITED NATIONS, August 6. /TASS/. Russia urges to abandon obsolete and inefficient algorithms of solving the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula and attempt to settle it using unconventional approaches, such as a joint initiative of Moscow and Beijing, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said at the UN Security Council session on Saturday.

Sanctions "cannot be a goal in itself" but must serve as a tool of engaging North Korea in negotiations, the diplomat said. The position of Russia is that new restrictions "shall not be used for economic strangling" of the country and deterioration of humanitarian situation, Nebenzya said. Resolution 2371 approved by the UN Security Council should become part of a "political strategy" to alleviate tension on the Korean Peninsula, which still has to be agreed, he said.

The task of "building up the atmosphere of confidence among regional nations" is now rampant, the Russian diplomat said. "Obsolete and proved to be inefficient algorithms for resolution of the nuclear problem of the Korean Peninsula should be abandoned and attempts should be made to settle it using unconventional and creative approaches. Isolation and pressure should give way to dialog and talks," Nebenzya said.

Proposals of Russia and China regarding "double freeze" and "parallel progress" stipulating suspension of the missile and nuclear program of the DPRK in exchange for renouncement of regular military drills in the region by the US and South Korea were developed exactly in this way, the Russian envoy to the UN said. "We would like to remind that our countries developed a joint roadmap excluding use or threatening by force and anticipating a comprehensive solution of all problems on the Korean Peninsula, including the nuclear one, through politics and diplomacy and establishment of a dialog without preconditions," Nebenzya said.

These initiatives "deserve serious attention as a probable starting point for exit from this deadlock and resumption of the negotiating process," the Russian diplomat said. "We need to search for communication channels with leaders of North Korea and bring them to a substantive dialog on nuclear and missile problems," Nebenzya added.

Hard to move ahead towards denuclearization

Any military gambles on the Korean Peninsula will evolve in a catastrophe for the regional stability, he said.

The Russian ambassador was hopeful that the US was sincere in assurances that its goal was not "the regime change in the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), forced reunification of the peninsula or military intervention into that country."

At the same time, Nebenzya expressed regret that this Russia-penned clause was not included in Saturday’s UN Security Council resolution.

"Eventual military gambles on any part will transform into a catastrophe for regional and global stability," the diplomat said.

It would be hard to move ahead towards denuclearization of the Korean peninsula until North Korea "feels the threat" in the wake of "military hyperactivity" in the region in the shape of "regular maneuvers and drills by the United States and its allies, deployments of strategic bombers and naval forces, with aircraft carriers among them."

The diplomat called the US anti-missile system THAAD deployed to South Korea as "an additional factor of instability."

"We have been reiterating that these steps are not just an irritant but they tip the current military balance in the region, calling neighboring states’ security into question," Nebenzya said.

Amid this crisis, any "military gambles" on any part "will evolve into a catastrophe" for regional stability, he said.

The UN Security Council’s 15 members, including Russia and China, unanimously backed fresh sanctions against North Korea over the country’s recent missile tests. Resolution 2371 bans North Korean exports of minerals and other raw materials and goods, including coal, iron, lead and seafood. The resolution envisions restrictions against 13 individuals and companies linked to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.