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Russian diplomat warns US and North Korea playing 'dangerous game to up the ante'

The Russian diplomat describes the situation in Northeast Asia as "explosive"

MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. The United States and North Korea are playing a dangerous game to up the ante, this is a blind alley, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with the Mezhdunarodnaya Zhizn (International Life) magazine published on Tuesday.

"As far as I understand, at the moment the US is ready for a direct dialogue only theoretically," he stressed. "It is putting forward unrealistic conditions for the other party. Accordingly, the other side seems to draw a conclusion that such pressure can only be countered by a certain force factor." "This is a dangerous game to up the ante and a blind alley."

TENSIONS ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA

According to Ryabkov, the situation in Northeast Asia is "explosive, and it is unclear how it will be evolving." "The question is how to find the point of convergence for Pyongyang’s and Washington’s interests and capabilities," he added.

"We propose certain schemes, and China does the same thing," Ryabkov went on to say. "Actually, these schemes boil down to the need to freeze the situation and ensure the status quo, at least for some time, and then start to ease tensions step by step."

The high-ranking diplomat added, referring to the situation at the UN Security Council, that "US requirements to the sanctions documents are far from realistic and go beyond all imaginable "red lines."

"US representatives are less and less inclined to seek compromise," he stated. "On various international platforms they are increasingly often guided by the principle ‘You are either with us or against us.’ That means that arm-twisting should be applied to those who are against them, and there can be no talks about any compromises, no search for solutions based on the balance of interests."

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