Ryabkov: Russia urges all parties to avoid nuclear conflict in Northeast Asia

MOSCOW, January 28 – RIA Novosti. While Russia urges all parties involved in the situation around the Korean Peninsula to focus on preventing a nuclear conflict in Northeast Asia, Moscow adheres to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which has only five nuclear powers and cannot be recognized. Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Ryabkov spoke about the nuclear status of Pyongyang in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“Russia is ready for dialogue and open to constructive contacts with all parties concerned, on the basis of joint initiatives with China, a roadmap and an action plan for the comprehensive resolution of the problems of the Korean Peninsula,” he said.

“As for the question of hypothetical recognition of North Korea’s nuclear status, I would like to confirm that Russia fully adheres to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which stipulates that only five countries have nuclear status. Ryabkov asked whether Russia could recognize North Korea’s nuclear status. replied.

South Korean President Yun Sok-yeol said on January 11 that if the situation with North Korea worsened, his country could host someone else’s nuclear weapons or build its own nuclear weapon “quite quickly”. He noted, however, that it is important to choose options that are “realistically possible” for the time being, and explained that Seoul is currently discussing information exchange, joint planning and implementation of such plans with Washington on US nuclear assets issues.

The South Korean leader’s office later corrected and clarified Yoon Seok-yeol’s words, stating that the president did not mean that South Korea had any intention of acquiring its own nuclear weapons, and that there was no change in the country’s position on fundamental harmonization of the Treaty. On Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Instead, Seoul and Washington will strengthen their expanded deterrence to effectively counter the North Korean threat.

At the sixth plenum of the WPK of the eighth meeting, Kim Jong-un announced the need to strengthen the country’s nuclear forces, mass-produce nuclear warheads, create a new intercontinental ballistic missile system capable of instant counterattack, and quickly complete reconnaissance. satellite project and launch vehicle for it. The North Korean leader said that the situation in which “South Korean puppets” have become openly enemies of North Korea requires “exponentially” increasing the number of nuclear warheads in the North Korean arsenal, stressing the importance and necessity of mass weapons. Production of tactical nuclear weapons.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT, 1968, in force since 1970) determined that only five countries (USSR, USA, Great Britain, France and China) had nuclear weapons and prohibited the emergence of new nuclear powers. The “Nuclear Five” promised not to transfer nuclear weapons to other countries and help create them, and not to accept or create an atomic bomb to other parties to the treaty. Compliance with the NPT is monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).