Alwaght- Russia and China have demanded that the US immediately halt its deployment of THAAD anti-missile systems to South Korea.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping also urged North Korea to stop its nuclear and missile tests which they said violate UN Security Council resolutions.
The presidents of the two powerful countries made the remarks during a press conference on Tuesday in Moscow after their meeting and added that the US and South Korea should abstain from holding war games in the region.
“We’ve agreed to promote our joint initiative, based on Russian Step-by-step Korean settlement plan and Chinese ideas to simultaneously freeze North Korean nuclear and missile activities, and US and South Korean joint military drills,” Putin said.
“We believe that the outer world is turbulent, local conflicts are emerging constantly, such issues as the Korean peninsula problem, Syrian question, remain very complex,” Xi Jinping said.
Russia’s president stressed that the two countries have either same or very close positions on many international issues. “We intend to further develop our foreign policy coordination,” Putin said.
Moscow and Beijing stressed the importance of taking North Korea’s concerns over its safety into consideration, calling them “justified.”
“The two sides stress that justified North Korean concerns should be respected,” a joint statement by Russia’s and China’s foreign ministers reads. “Other countries should make certain moves to resume the negotiations, creating a peaceful disposition and mutual trust.”
While condemning Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests as violating UN Security Council resolutions, Moscow and Beijing urged the United States to immediately halt its deployment of THAAD anti-missile systems to South Korea.
The call came on a day when North Korea conducted another ballistic missile test ahead of the G20 Summit where US president Donald Trump plans to discuss Pyongyang's missile program.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been near boiling point following increased provocations by the US which include military drills and deployment of warships and submarines in the region.
Pyongyang insists that developing its military defenses including nuclear weapons is important to counter incessant provocations by the US including a possible nuclear aggression.
