US move to quit Iran nuclear deal to send wrong signal to North Korea — Russia’s UN envoy

World September 22, 2017, 6:39

According to the Russian diplomat, the situation on the Korean Peninsula would require even more diplomatic effort than it took to sign the nuclear agreement with Iran

UN, September 22. /TASS/. If Washington withdraws from the nuclear agreement with Iran, it would send "the wrongest signal possible" to North Korea, Russia’s UN envoy, Vasily Nebenzya, said during the UN Security Council session on Thursday.

"Iran and North Korea are interconnected today, because if the United States quits the JCPOA [the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action], it will be the wrongest signal possible that we can ever send to North Korea," he said.

According to the Russian diplomat, the situation on the Korean Peninsula would require even more diplomatic effort than it took to sign the nuclear agreement with Iran.

"We should not waste time and begin, without waiting until the logic of confrontation gets the upper hand," Nebenzya said.

The UN Security Council on Thursday held a session to discuss non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and implementation of relevant sanctions. The meeting was attended by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his counterparts from other countries. The meeting focused on the Korean Peninsula issue, Iranian nuclear deal and chemical disarmament efforts in Syria.

During the meeting, the Russian envoy to the UN said he was surprised that the focus of the non-proliferation talk with was placed on these states.

"Other, more inclusive formats exist for this purpose. In our opinion, the need for holding UN Security Council sessions devoted to non-proliferation issues lies in discussing the general principles of solving this problem, not in fighting with states that had a misfortune to be designated as so-called rogue regimes by certain members of the Council," he said.

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