Want To Solve North Korea's Nuclear Problem? Vladimir Putin: Guarantee Of Security

President of Rusia Vladimir Putin. (Wikimedia Commons/Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation)

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin called for North Korea's security guarantees, to resolve the impasse over its nuclear program, underlining pressure and sanctions alone will not solve the problem.

Putin made the remarks during a virtual meeting with the heads of global news agencies at the annual economic forum in St. Petersburg, Friday (local time) when nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the United States remained deadlocked after the collapse of the Hanoi summit in 2019.

"The North Korean nuclear issue will not be solved by putting pressure on North Korea and tightening sanctions against it," Putin said through an interpreter when asked by Cho Sung-boo, CEO and president of Yonhap News Agency in Seoul to comment on the North Korean nuclear issue.

"Only by ensuring the safety of its people, and with patience and a careful approach, can we solve this problem," said Vladimir Putin as reported by Korea Times Saturday, June 5.

Test-firing of North Korea's KN-23 missile in 2013. (Source: Rodong Sinmun via missilethreat.csis.org)

Moscow opted for a phased approach to the impending denuclearization of North Korea with reciprocal measures, including the partial lifting of UN sanctions, as the regime takes steps to halt its nuclear program.

Vladimir Putin blamed the United States (US) for the deadlock in nuclear negotiations, citing promises that were not kept.

"North Korea's leadership is showing a constructive attitude, but countries like the US seem to have ignored promises (that they made) to the North," he said.

Nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington failed, as there was no consensus on how to match Pyongyang's denuclearization steps with sanctions relief from Washington.

President Putin called for efforts to find a solution that would be accepted by all countries concerned, reiterating Russia's stance on advocating some form of multilateral dialogue platform similar to the six-party talks held earlier.

Present at the virtual session were news agencies from 16 countries, including Japan's Kyodo News Agency, China's Xinhua News Agency, Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France Press.