North Korea’s Hydrogen bomb is deterring US first strike, says Russia

North Korea’s Hydrogen bomb is deterring US first strike, says Russia

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said thousands of innocent people will suffer in the absence of a diplomatic solution to the North Korea crisis. Photo: Reuters
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said thousands of innocent people will suffer in the absence of a diplomatic solution to the North Korea crisis. Photo: Reuters
Moscow: North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons is preventing the US from launching a first strike against the rogue nation, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview.

“The Americans won’t strike because they know for sure—rather than suspect—that it has atomic bombs,” Lavrov said Sunday on Russia’s NTV television. “I’m not defending North Korea right now, I’m just saying that almost everyone agrees with this analysis.”

Lavrov said the US attacked Iraq “solely because they had 100% information that there were no weapons of mass destruction left there,” refuting arguments the American government made at the time.

Tensions between the nations ratcheted up this weekend as President Donald Trump and North Korea foreign minister Ri Yong Ho traded threats. On Saturday, US Air Force B-1B bombers flew over international waters east of North Korea.

Lavrov said thousands of innocent people will suffer, in North Korea and in bordering South Korea, Japan and even maybe China and Russia, in the absence of a diplomatic solution.

Turning to another source of tension, Lavrov also added that he can’t rule out that the US plans for Syria go beyond fighting terrorism. The Americans “swear that they have no goal in Syria other than eliminating terrorists,” he said. “When it happens, we’ll see if this was true or the US nonetheless pursues some political goals, which we yet don’t know of.” Bloomberg

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