Russian deputy foreign minister Igor Morgulov said on Monday that “an apocalyptic scenario of developments” on the Korean Peninsula is possible, but Russia hopes that a common sense would prevail among the involved parties.
“A scenario of the apocalyptic development of the situation on the Korean Peninsula exists and we cannot turn our blind eye to it,” Morgulov said speaking at the opening of the eighth annual Asian Conference of the Valdai discussion club in Seoul. “I hope that a common sense, pragmatism and an instinct of self-preservation would prevail among our partners to exclude such negative scenario,” the Russian diplomat said, quoted by Russia’s Tass.
Fire and brimstone aside, Morgulov noted that a phase of calm appeared to be returning as North Korea’s current pause in provocations – the longest since last winter – indicates a step toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. ‘I think North Korea’s restraint for the past two months is within the simultaneous freeze road map’ suggested by China and Russia, Morgulov told reporters in Seoul on Monday according to Bloomberg. North Korea’s last provocation was on Sept. 15, when it fired its second missile over Japan in as many months. The 73-day pause is the longest since a 116-day break between October 2016 and February.
Russian and Chinese foreign ministers proposed in July a ‘double freezing’ initiative, under which North Korea refrains from missile and nuclear tests, and the U. S. and South Korea halt large-scale military exercises, however the U. S. has rejected this proposal, arguing that its drills are defensive in nature. Earlier this month, it carried out its first exercise in a decade using three aircraft carriers in the region, and plans to conduct drills with South Korea’s air force in early December.
This post was published at Zero Hedge on Nov 27, 2017.
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