Stay out of it! Russia tells Trump to leave North Korea negotiations without meddling
Channel: ZSTY011 NEWS
Date: 2018-01-06

Stay out of it! Russia tells Trump to leave North Korea negotiations without meddling.

RUSSIAN officials have urged US President Donald Trump not to meddle in upcoming talks between North Korea and its strained neighbour South Korea.
The desperate plea comes after the fractious Koreas pledged to hold their first official talks in more than two years next Tuesday, hinting at progress between the bitter neighbours.

But Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, called on Washington not to spoil the opportunity for dialogue between Seoul and Pyongyang, news agency TASS reported.

He said: “Other participants in this drama should show as much carefulness, balance and restraint as possible.” 

A source told RIA news agency that the Russian Foreign Ministry “welcomed” North and South Korea's readiness to resume dialogue.
And the sources added that Moscow hopes "this positive trend will be underpinned by concrete agreements aiming at a settlement in the Korean peninsula”.

China's foreign ministry also applauded news of possible talks between the rival Koreas.

Spokesman Geng Shuang said: "We welcome the recent positive turn of events in the peninsular situation.” 

South Korea’s Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said North Korea had accepted Seoul’s offer to meet at the border village of Panmunjom to discuss how to co-operate on next month’s Winter Olympics and how to improve overall ties.
The announcement came hours after the United States said it had agreed to delay joint military exercises with South Korea until after the Winter Olympics.

The Games are to be held in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang.

The rival Koreas are seeking to improve their strained ties after a period of rising tension over the North’s push to expand its nuclear and missile arsenals.

However, in Washington, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis insisted delaying joint military exercises was a practical necessity to accommodate the Olympics, not a political gesture.

He said: “Those talks are clearly the result of the amount of international pressure (on North Korea), and they are a way for North Korea to start talking while keeping it contained to a benign issue.”Later he said: “In terms of whether it’s a one-off (gesture) from him or a real olive branch, I don’t know.”

He said there can be little doubt that international pressure, including sanctions ordered by the UN Security Council, is having some effect on Kim’s calculations.

Mr Mantis added the drill would be conducted sometime after the Winter Paralympics, which will be held March 8-18 following the Olympic Games between February 9-25.

Meanwhile, the White House said President Trump had approved the postponement in consultation with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. 

The Trump administration has said all options are on the table to end the North Korean nuclear standoff, including military measures, but Moon has repeatedly said there cannot be another war on the Korean Peninsula.
But things become farcical after Kim said in his New Year's address he has a "nuclear button" on his desk to fire atomic weapons at the United States. And the US president tweeted back that he too had a nuclear button and it was “bigger and worked.”

North Korea carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test and test-launched three intercontinental ballistic missiles as part of its push to possess functioning nuclear missiles capable of striking the US mainland.

The repeated weapons tests earned the North toughened UN sanctions, and Kim and Mr Trump exchanged threats of nuclear war and crude personal insults.

In another tweet yesterday, Mr Trump claimed his tough stance on nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula is helping push North Korea and South Korea to talk.