China says war must not be allowed on Korean peninsula

BEIJING (Reuters): The crisis over North Korea’s weapons programs must be resolved through talks, not war, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of the danger of “sleepwalking” into conflict.

Xi made his comments to visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered on Tuesday to begin direct talks with North Korea without pre-conditions.

But the White House said on Wednesday that no negotiations could be held until North Korea improved its behaviour.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tillerson’s offer of direct contacts with North Korea was “a very good signal” while warning that any US strike on the country would have catastrophic consequences.

Putin and US President Donald Trump discussed North Korea during a phone call, the White House and Kremlin said in separate statements. The two leaders talked about “working together to resolve the very dangerous situation,” the White House said on Thursday.

Tillerson is to attend a UN Security Council ministerial meeting on North Korea in New York on Friday at which he plans to urge countries to maintain a US-led campaign to pressure Pyongyang to abandon its weapons programs through sanctions.

North Korea tested its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile on Nov. 29, which it said could put all of the United States within range, in defiance of international pressure and U.N. sanctions.

The United States has said all options were on the table in dealing with North Korea, including military action.

Meeting in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Xi told Moon the goal of denuclearising the Korean peninsula must be stuck to, and war and chaos cannot be allowed, Chinese state media said.

“The peninsula issue must, in the end, be resolved via dialogue and consultation,” Xi was cited as saying.

China and South Korea have an important shared interest in maintaining peace, and China was willing to work with South Korea to promote talks and support North and South to improve relations, Xi said.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said Xi and Moon agreed war on the peninsula would not be tolerated and they would cooperate in applying sanctions and pressure on North Korea.

The apparently warm tone of their talks followed nearly a year of tense relations between the two countries.

Putin, Trump discuss N Korea in phone call

AFP: Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump discussed the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear program in a phone call Thursday, in which the US president took the unusual step of thanking his Russian counterpart for praising America’s economy.

The two heads of state discussed “the situation in several crisis zones, with a focus on solving the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula,” the Kremlin said in a statement, without elaborating.

The White House said the two “discussed working together to resolve the very dangerous situation in North Korea.”

But Trump’s thanks to Putin took top billing in the US statement.

“President Trump thanked President Putin for acknowledging America’s strong economic performance in his annual press conference,” it said.

Earlier in the day, Putin told his press conference: “Look at how the markets are reacting, they are growing. This shows confidence in the American economy. With all due respect to (Trump’s) opponents, these are objective facts.”

The pair have lavished praise on each other in the past, with commentators describing their cosy relationship as a “bromance.”

Special counsel Robert Mueller is currently investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow to tilt the White House race in his favour.

Washington this week said it was ready to talk to North Korea – which has launched several intercontinental ballistic missiles in recent months – “without preconditions.”

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that while the Trump administration was still determined to force Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear arsenal, it was willing to “have the first meeting without preconditions.”

Putin, in his annual press conference with hundreds of journalists in Moscow, welcomed the United States’ “awareness of reality” in the crisis. 

However, he called on all sides to “stop aggravating the situation” and said Moscow did not recognise North Korea’s status as a nuclear power.