MOSCOW, April 9 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow will push to normalize the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.
“We are convinced that the situation is already very serious, as nuclear explosions and missile launches are no joke,” Lavrov told the RTVi channel. “But rhetoric plays a no-less-harmful role. At a certain point, mutual accusations, threats and warnings may reach a boiling point.”
“So we are consistently seeking to calm the tension,” Lavrov said. “We are working with all participants of the six-party talks - North Korea, the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, we closely coordinate our actions with China.”
Tensions began escalating on the Korean Peninsula after international sanctions were imposed on North Korea in response to a long-range rocket launch in December, which world powers condemned as a ballistic missile test. North Korea responded by carrying out a third nuclear test in February, which was followed by more sanctions.
Pyongyang has threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes against the US mainland and US military bases in the region.
Some of its latest threats came after US and South Korean forces carried out annual joint military exercises, some of which took place near the maritime border between the two Koreas. The United States responded by deploying F-22 Raptor stealth fighters to the region and making patrol flights over South Korea using B-2 and B-52 bombers.
Last week, North Korea reportedly moved two missiles capable of striking the US Pacific territory of Guam onto mobile launch pads, and advised foreign embassies to consider pulling staff out of Pyongyang. It also called on all foreign organizations, companies and tourists to consider evacuation from South Korea "not to be harmed in the event of a war."
The six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program have been stalled since 2009.
