ULAN BATOR (Sputnik) – Moscow hopes North Korea will hear the voice of reason and refrain from making any irresponsible steps, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.
“The situation on the Korean Peninsula calls for particular alarm. Pyongyang is ignoring the demands of the UN Security Council and is continuing to make threats with nuclear missile experiments. We hope that the North Korean side will listen to the voice of reason, refrain from taking new irresponsible steps, and realize the illusiveness of hopes to reach recognitions by the global community of its nuclear status,” Lavrov said while delivering a speech at the Mongolian Foreign Ministry.
“We consider turning the region into yet another confrontational platform is completely unacceptable, firing up an arms race here, and the deployment of a new positional region for US air defense systems,” Lavrov said.
"Mutually acceptable solution should be found in the aspect of creating a reliable and effective multilateral international legal mechanism of peace and security within Northeast Asia," Lavrov stressed.
In response to North Korea's recent activities, South Korea and the United States have launched large-scale military drills in the region. The exercises, expected to last through April 30, include rehearsals of strikes on North Korea’s missile and nuclear facilities in case of war.
South Korean media cited government sources as saying Thursday that Pyongyang allegedly deployed one or two intermediate-range ballistic missiles on its eastern coast.
