Russia accused the United States of trying “to justify” armed conflict with North Korea, rebuffing the Trump administration’s response to an unprecedented missile launch by the rogue regime.
“It is utterly clear for us that any attempts to justify a military solution are inadmissible,” Vladimir Safronkov, Russia’s deputy envoy to the United Nations, told the U.N. Security Council during a Wednesday meeting. “In the very same manner, attempts to economically strangle North Korea are equally unacceptable as millions of people are in great humanitarian need.”
That statement amounted to a total rejection of U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley’s remarks moments earlier. Haley, noting that the United States has “considerable” military power, demanded that Russia and China back a new package of sanctions to deprive the regime of funding for its nuclear weapons and missile program. A top Russian diplomat is headed to D.C. to discuss the North Korea crisis further, but the U.N. meeting showed a vast gulf between the two positions.
“To sit there and oppose sanctions or to sit there and go in defiance of a resolution means that you’re holding the hands of [North Korean dictator] Kim Jong-un,” Haley said in reply to Safronkov’s statement.
Russia and the United States couldn’t even agree that North Korea test-fired a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile, demonstrating the capability to launch such missiles for the first time. Safronkov said that Russian military officials have “established” that “the parameters and data regarding the targeting of the missile are in line with the tactical criteria of midrange ballistic missiles.”
Haley reminded him that the U.S., the United Nations, and North Korea itself have all identified the latest launch as an ICBM. “So, if you need any sort of intelligence to let you know that the rest of the world sees this is an ICBM, I’m happy to provide it,” she said.
The distinction between a long-range ICBM and a midrange missile is significant, because Haley dubbed the launch of the long-range rocket “a clear and sharp military escalation” that puts the United States at greater risk.
“Their actions are quickly closing off the possibility of a diplomatic solution,” she said during her opening remarks. “The United States is prepared to use the full range of our capabilities to defend ourselves and our allies. One of our capabilities lies with our considerable military forces. We will use them, if we must, but we prefer not to have to go in that direction.”
Russia and China proposed an alternative: that the United States stop conducting military exercises with South Korea in exchange for North Korea putting a moratorium on missile tests. And Safronkov reiterated their position that U.S. is using the North Korea threat as a cover to justify bolstering its military power in the region, as a counterweight to China and Russia.
“Alliances between certain states should never be made to the detriment of the interests of third parties,” he said in a reference to the United States and South Korea. “We’re against a military presence from extra regional forces in northeast Asia and the deployment of certain systems under a pretext of countering the military and missile program of [North Korea]. The deployment of a [missile defense] system in northeast Asia is a serious hit to the strategic stability of the region, including for Russia and China.”
Haley didn’t give, reiterating that the United States will not allow Russia and China to hamstring efforts to corral North Korea. “[I]f you see this as a threat, if you see this for what it is — which is North Korea showing its muscle — then you need to stand strong and vote with the international community to strengthen sanctions on North Korea,” she said. “And if you choose not to, we will go our own path.”
