Russian foreign minister Lavrov said that the North Korea is open to direct talks with the US over its nuclear programme and ICBM tests. Rex Tillerson and Sergei Lavrov met on Thursday in Vienna for an international conference.
A message of Sergei Lavrov about the readiness of the North Korea to discuss the nuclear ambitions was delivered to Mr Tillerson during Vienna conference, but there was no immediate response. The state department always insisted on N.Korea’s denuclearization as a condition for talks. The Russian foreign minister said that his country is ready to support negotiation process.
“Our American colleagues, [including] Rex Tillerson, have heard this,”
Mr Lavrov added.
Meanwhile, the White House planned to replace Rex Tillerson with CIA director Mike Pompeo who is more loyal to Donald Trump’s nationalistic views. So far, however, Mr Tillerson has shown no signs he is willing to leave quietly — all but daring the president to fire him.
The North Korean problem should be solved as soon as possible, and Vitaly Pashin, a member of Russia’s lower house, reported back that the N. Koreans would be willing to go to the table with Moscow as a mediator between the two sides.
Despite all Russian peaceful efforts, official Pyongyang had complained to the Russian delegation about “regular external aggression” on the part of the US, using this as a justification for its latest ICBM test, he said.
Vienna conference and East Ukraine issue
The main focus of the security forum is a proposal to deploy a United Nations peacekeeping force to Eastern Ukraine. Moscow and Washington support such a mission but differ in its details. Washington wants the force to have a broad mandate to help end the fighting and restore Ukrainian sovereignty.
Rex Tillerson stressed that the USA will continue to work with Russia to see if we cannot agree on a peacekeeping force that can enter Ukraine. It is time to reduce the violence,
“More people have died in 2017 than 2016, and this simply has to stop,”
State Secretary said.
