Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that the tense standoff between North Korea and the United States was on the verge of large-scale conflict, and said it was a mistake to try to pressure Pyongyang over its nuclear missile program. North Korea has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States, and recently threatened to land missiles near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. "In Russia's opinion, the calculation that it is possible to halt North Korea's nuclear missile programs exclusively by putting pressure on Pyongyang is erroneous and futile," Putin wrote. A road map formulated by Moscow and Beijing, which would involve North Korea stopping work on its missile program in exchange for the United States and South Korea halting large-scale war games, was a way to gradually reduce tensions, wrote Putin. Lavrov, addressing students in Moscow, said he felt events were building towards a war which he said would cause large numbers of casualties in Japan and South Korea if it happened.

Source: CBC News September 01, 2017 13:15 UTC