Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized the United States for its “bloodthirsty tirade” against North Korea and warned that military action would be a mistake. Previously, U.S. ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley warned North Korea would be destroyed if war broke out.
“We have never sought war with North Korea, and still today we do not seek it. If war does come, it will be because of continued acts of aggression like we witnessed yesterday. And if war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed,” Haley said.
According to Lavrov, Haley is playing with fire, Newsweek reports.
“If someone really wants to use force to, as the U.S. representative to the United Nations put it, destroy North Korea…then I think that is playing with fire and a big mistake,” Lavrov said and added that Russia would do everything to prevent use of force and move the involved parties toward using peaceful and political-diplomatic means to solve their differences.
Halley’s comments were similar to those made by President Donald Trump during his address to the UN in September. Trump then threatened to destroy North Korea if it forced the U.S. to defend itself and Pyongyang responded by insulting Trump. Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un have often insulted each other. Pyongyang does not want to step away from its nuclear program and contends that it is necessary to ward off repressive U.S. imperialism. North Korea wants to develop a nuclear weapon that could reach U.S. mainland.
It is believed that North Korea has between 25 to 60 nuclear warheads. According to some experts, Pyongyang is at least a year away from developing technology that would allow it to reach U.S. mainland.
The tensions led even Russia to fear that there could be a war. The Congressional research Service has assessed that about 300,000 could die in the first days of the possible conflict between the U.S. and North Korea, even without the use of nuclear weapons.
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