Lavrov and Tillerson discuss north Korea

MOSCOW (Russia): Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with United States (US) state secretary Rex Tillerson at the US side’s initiative, on Wednesday, wherein the ministers discussed a broad range of issues on the bilateral agenda; an official statement said.

According to detail, in particular, they expressed a common opinion that north Korea should strictly comply with the requirements of the United Nations (UN) security council, which repeatedly denounced north Korea’s nuclear test explosions and missile launches.

At the same time, Lavrov cautioned against escalating tensions around the Korean peninsula through aggressive rhetoric, anti-north Korean blocs and threats of a naval blockade.

Russian minister pointed out that Pyongyang had demonstrated readiness for dialogue and called for settling disputes exclusively by diplomatic means and with due regard for the related Russian-Chinese initiatives.

The two officials also discussed the settlement of the conflict in Syria, including the progress of the military operation in northern Syria and preparations for the intra-Syrian meeting in Vienna and the Syrian national dialogue congress in Sochi, which is aimed at promoting the UN-led peace process.

Lavrov repeated that only the Syrians themselves have the right to determine their country’s future.