Korean Peninsula must not be "point of accumulation of threats" - Lavrov

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Russia and China are certain about the need for resuming negotiations on the current state of affairs in the Korean Peninsula. "In the most trustworthy manner Russia and China have been advancing initiatives aimed at resuming the negotiating process. They are certain that provided the world community stays firm regarding the impermissibility of North Korea’s claims to the nuclear status and provided the provocations and adventures involving nuclear tests and missile launches are firmly condemned the Korean Peninsula should be not a point of steady accumulation of threats. That crisis should not be used for fast-tracked and disproportionate arms buildups and growing aggressiveness of military exercises held there. Alongside pressures on Pyongyang we should open the door to resuming negotiations," Lavrov told an annual news conference devoted to Russia’s diplomacy in 2016. About the situation in the Middle East Lavrov said that on the regional issues Russia and China have traditionally voted in a solidary fashion and coordinated their actions in all matters, including the struggle against terrorism. Lavrov said that Russian-Chinese relations today were the best-ever in the history of the two countries. Bilateral cooperation is on the rise along all lines, he said. "We are certain that coordinated actions by Moscow and Beijing in the international scene are one of the key factors for world stability and we will go ahead with this cooperation," he said. Read more