AP, Singapore :
North Korea’s nuclear ambitions are threatening to Russia, a Russian official said Sunday.
“It is not only (a) ballistic missile defense system – it has real function,” said Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. “That is why it is alarming. And it is direct threat to Russia. We are convinced that it will increase the tensions of the region. That is our principle position.”
Fomin spoke at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an international security conference in Singapore attended by defense ministers and experts from 39 countries, including U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
Russia borders North Korea and saw one of Pyongyang’s missiles land close to its waters. But it differs from the U.S. and its allies on how to rein in the North’s rapidly escalating nuclear and ballistic missile program.
Backing fresh sanctions on North Korea, Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Vladimir Safronkov stressed in June that “the choice here has to be made in favor of using diplomatic tools to the maximum extent possible.”
Fomin had similar sentiments. “Economical restrictions should be a kind of tool to invoke North Korea to a peaceful process of resolving the dispute and conflict, and not to once again deteriorate the economic solution in North Korea,” he said. Addressing the South China Sea conflict, Fomin was careful with his words. “All states involved in territorial disagreements in the South China Sea need to adhere the principle of the non-use of force,” he said.
China – a Russian ally – has pitted itself against its smaller neighbors in claiming disputed islands, coral reefs and lagoons in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis moved to reassure Asian allies Saturday that the United States can work with China on reining in North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme without compromising its opposition to Beijing’s continued “militarisation” of the South China Sea.
President Donald Trump-who frequently denounced China on the campaign trail-has turned to Beijing to help pressure Pyongyang, prompting broad concerns that America will go easy on China’s maritime activities.
Longstanding partners are also mortified that Trump has seemed indifferent to traditional alliances, and have interpreted his pulling out of a trans-Pacific trade deal and the Paris climate accords as signs of broader American disengagement. Mattis, arguably Trump’s most important statesman as the new president hopes to slash the State Department, tried to allay the fears.
“In the security arena, we have a deep and abiding commitment to reinforcing the rules-based international order, a product of so many nations’ efforts to create stability,” Mattis said in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major defence summit for countries from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
Calling North Korea’s nuclear ambitions a “threat to us all,” Mattis asked the international community to come together on the issue.
It is “imperative that we do our part each of us to fulfill our obligations and work together to support our shared goal of denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula,” Mattis said.
“The Trump administration is encouraged by China’s renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearisation,” he added.
Pyongyang on Monday test-fired another rocket, the latest in a series of launches and atomic tests that have ratcheted up tensions over its quest to develop weapons capable of hitting the United States-something Trump has said “won’t happen”.
The defence chief spoke directly to concerns America might grant concessions to China to ensure cooperation on North Korea, saying the issue was not “binary” and that the United States would continue to pressure Beijing elsewhere.
North Korea’s nuclear ambitions are threatening to Russia, a Russian official said Sunday.
“It is not only (a) ballistic missile defense system – it has real function,” said Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. “That is why it is alarming. And it is direct threat to Russia. We are convinced that it will increase the tensions of the region. That is our principle position.”
Fomin spoke at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an international security conference in Singapore attended by defense ministers and experts from 39 countries, including U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
Russia borders North Korea and saw one of Pyongyang’s missiles land close to its waters. But it differs from the U.S. and its allies on how to rein in the North’s rapidly escalating nuclear and ballistic missile program.
Backing fresh sanctions on North Korea, Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Vladimir Safronkov stressed in June that “the choice here has to be made in favor of using diplomatic tools to the maximum extent possible.”
Fomin had similar sentiments. “Economical restrictions should be a kind of tool to invoke North Korea to a peaceful process of resolving the dispute and conflict, and not to once again deteriorate the economic solution in North Korea,” he said. Addressing the South China Sea conflict, Fomin was careful with his words. “All states involved in territorial disagreements in the South China Sea need to adhere the principle of the non-use of force,” he said.
China – a Russian ally – has pitted itself against its smaller neighbors in claiming disputed islands, coral reefs and lagoons in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis moved to reassure Asian allies Saturday that the United States can work with China on reining in North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme without compromising its opposition to Beijing’s continued “militarisation” of the South China Sea.
President Donald Trump-who frequently denounced China on the campaign trail-has turned to Beijing to help pressure Pyongyang, prompting broad concerns that America will go easy on China’s maritime activities.
Longstanding partners are also mortified that Trump has seemed indifferent to traditional alliances, and have interpreted his pulling out of a trans-Pacific trade deal and the Paris climate accords as signs of broader American disengagement. Mattis, arguably Trump’s most important statesman as the new president hopes to slash the State Department, tried to allay the fears.
“In the security arena, we have a deep and abiding commitment to reinforcing the rules-based international order, a product of so many nations’ efforts to create stability,” Mattis said in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major defence summit for countries from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
Calling North Korea’s nuclear ambitions a “threat to us all,” Mattis asked the international community to come together on the issue.
It is “imperative that we do our part each of us to fulfill our obligations and work together to support our shared goal of denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula,” Mattis said.
“The Trump administration is encouraged by China’s renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearisation,” he added.
Pyongyang on Monday test-fired another rocket, the latest in a series of launches and atomic tests that have ratcheted up tensions over its quest to develop weapons capable of hitting the United States-something Trump has said “won’t happen”.
The defence chief spoke directly to concerns America might grant concessions to China to ensure cooperation on North Korea, saying the issue was not “binary” and that the United States would continue to pressure Beijing elsewhere.
