MOSCOW, January 21. /TASS/. Washington is ‘definitely making a losing bet’ by carrying on with its sanctions pressure against North Korea and refusing to accept a draft resolution - proposed by Russia and China - on easing these restrictions in a number of spheres, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

"Unfortunately, the United States and its European allies are still not ready to accept it [the resolution], and they are definitely making a losing bet by gambling in favor of the policy of sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang, while not offering any constructive ideas in response," the top Russian diplomat argued.

The Foreign Ministry has great expectations for the draft of the political and humanitarian resolution, which was proposed by Russia and China. It stipulates an easing of sanctions against North Korea along humanitarian lines and in other spheres that are not connected with the nuclear missile program, which would serve as a serious incentive to revive the political discourse by all the countries involved.

"We proceed from the stance that under the current pandemic conditions, a provision of assistance to the people of the DPRK would be a timely and responsible step on behalf of the global community," the ministry said in a statement.

"Moreover, the adoption of this resolution would help build confidence among the countries involved and could serve as a strong incentive to reinvigorate the political dialogue," the statement continued.

The diplomatic agency also stated that in 2022, Moscow intends to continue to promote Russian-Chinese approaches toward a settlement on the Korean Peninsula, which are stipulated by the 2017 joint roadmap.

"We believe that the only way to resolve the problems on the Korean Peninsula is through political dialogue, which may serve to find ways of satisfying the legitimate concerns of all parties involved, even regarding security guarantees," the Russian Foreign Ministry added.