Moscow is ready to work through the United Nations to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis, Russia's UN ambassador Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published Friday. A day earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov resisted U.S. calls for multilateral talks on North Korea and stressed that Moscow continued to support direct talks between Pyongyang and Washington over the stand-off. "Our American partners believe it would be beneficial to use the multilateral mechanism," Lavrov told the Vremya Novostei daily.
"We don't want to bother arguing with them. They're nuts. And we ain't takin' the heat for when they finally loon out."
"We are not against this and are ready to work through the UN Security Council as long as this is accompanied by a bilateral dialogue," he added. U.S. officials have argued that direct negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington over the Stalinist state's alleged plans to develop a nuclear program must involve all of the regional powers, since their safety is also concerned. Until now, Russia has described as "premature" suggestions that the UN Security Council should discuss the crisis surrounding North Korea's nuclear ambitions, arguing that this would inflame the situation.
I guess now they're "mature." Powell's team has been working. Yesterday he said we and China have "the same views" on NKor. With a China-Russia-USA alliance, perhaps Dear Leader will wake up. But I doubt it. |