Russia’s top diplomat downplayed North Korea’s nuclear saber-rattling following a diplomatic summit Tuesday, and said the United States has to take “prudent” steps to deescalate the crisis.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that North Korea always complains about sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council. The regime threatened a “physical” response to the new sanctions and warned South Korea it has the ability turn “Seoul into a sea of flame,” but Lavrov betrayed little alarm.
“Strictly speaking, this is how representatives of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have reacted to all previous U.N. Security Council resolutions,” he told reporters Tuesday following an east Asia diplomatic summit in the Philippines. “We will judge by their actions.”