The United States should have “no illusions” that Russia and China will end the threat of North Korea’s missile program, a senator who heads a nuclear weapons subcommittee said Tuesday.
Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., chairwoman of the Armed Services Strategic Forces panel, called both countries “international patrons” of North Korea and instead urged the U.S. to ratchet up pressure on all three following the alleged test of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Russia and China reached a joint agreement in Moscow Tuesday that the North should cease its missile program and the U.S. should remove its missile shield and halt large-scale joint military exercises with South Korea.
“The latest test-launch demonstrates a sobering reality: The threat of North Korea is quickly advancing,” Fischer said in a released statement. “As the threat increases, we must bring greater pressure to bear on North Korea, and its international patrons, China and Russia, but we should have no illusions that they will solve this problem for us.”
The statement from Moscow Tuesday was a challenge to the Trump administration by two of its top competitors at a time when its weighing what options might be available to deal with the rogue regime of Kim Jong Un.
Russia is a former super power competitor with the U.S. that has become resurgent under President Vladimir Putin and China, which maintains economic ties with the North, is competing for military dominance in the Asia-Pacific region.
President Trump has been urging China to intervene as the North continues to test missiles in the hopes of developing a nuclear-tipped ICBM capable of striking inside the continental U.S.
“Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!” Trump tweeted after what North Korea claims was a successful ICBM launch.
U.S. Pacific Command said the test involved a intermediate range missile.
