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Don't sleepwalk into war over N. Korea, warns UN boss
by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 14, 2017


Russia welcomes 'constructive' US position on N. Korea talks
Moscow Dec 13, 2017 - Russia on Wednesday said it welcomed US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's statement that Washington is ready for talks with North Korea without preconditions, calling this a constructive approach. "We can state that such constructive statements impress us far more than the confrontational rhetoric that we have heard up to now. Undoubtedly this can be welcomed," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. Peskov said that Washington's change of tone chimed with Russia's repeated calls for Washington to cool down its response to North Korea's nuclear weapons programme. "This goes in the same direction as the calls from Russia," said Peskov, adding that President Vladimir Putin has regularly warned the US that "confrontational rhetoric and any steps that could provoke further tensions on the Korean peninsula are absolutely counterproductive." "It was Putin who regularly and consistently called for all the parties involved to do all they could to set up channels for dialogue. Therefore, such statements (as Tillerson's) of course do give us satisfaction," the Kremlin spokesman said. Asked if the US was grabbing the initiative from Russia, Peskov said that calming the situation was a shared aim and "no one can grab anything from any one else. The main thing here is succeeding in the task." Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said earlier Wednesday that Moscow did not need to put pressure on its Soviet-era ally and neighbour North Korea to participate in talks with Washington, since Pyongyang has said it is keen to do this. "I don't think we need to influence North Korea in this direction, because Pyongyang has many times at different levels declared its readiness (for talks)," Ryabkov told journalists, quoted by RIA Novosti state news agency. "Let's hope that after the statements coming from a high level in Washington, the opportunity for this will fall into place," he said.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres Thursday warned the world against "sleepwalking into war" over North Korea, as he called for diplomatic efforts to banish nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula.

Speaking on a visit to Japan, Secretary-General Guterres said: "The worst possible thing that could happen would be for us all to sleepwalk into a war that might have very dramatic circumstances."

The UN Security Council has imposed three rounds of sanctions over the past year against North Korea over its increasingly powerful missile and nuclear tests.

Guterres said those sanctions need to be implemented "by North Korea first of all, but also fully implemented by all the other countries whose role is crucial."

He urged "diplomatic engagement that allows for ... denuclearisation (of the Korean peninsula) to take place in a peaceful way."

Speaking alongside Guterres, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe echoed the call to "fully implement United Nations Security Council resolutions" and hold "meaningful dialogue toward denuclearisation."

The secretary-general's trip comes after Jeffrey Feltman, the UN's political affairs chief, visited North Korea earlier this month.

Feltman said he had been told in Pyongyang that North Korea wants to avoid war and said he "fervently" hoped that the "door to a negotiated solution will now be opened wide."

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington was ready to talk to Pyongyang "without preconditions", interpreted by many as a shift in the US position.

Washington's top diplomat told the Atlantic Council policy forum that North Korea is welcome to talk about anything at a first meeting -- even the weather.

However, the White House and Tillerson's own department later stressed that the US position on North Korea "had not changed."

"The secretary was not creating a new policy, our policy remains exactly the same as it was," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Wednesday.

NUKEWARS
US, S. Korea 'discuss' military drills amid Olympic worries
Seoul (AFP) Dec 12, 2017
The US military is reportedly in talks with South Korea on the timing of large-scale annual military exercises that always infuriate nuclear-armed Pyongyang and could coincide with next year's Winter Olympics. The Foal Eagle and Key Resolve drills usually start in late February or early March and involve tens of thousands of troops from the two allies, which say they are purely defensive. ... read more

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