Moscow Sees No Alternative to Political, Diplomatic Efforts in North Korea

Russia sees no alternative to political and diplomatic settlement efforts in North Korea, a Russian Foreign Ministry source told Sputnik a day after the US envoy said Washington is not willing to engage in diplomacy on the issue.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — UN Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told CNN on Thursday that the United States does not want to "get back into the six-party talks" on the North Korean nuclear program.

"We see no alternative to a political and diplomatic settlement," the source said Friday.

On March 6, North Korea launched four ballistic missiles, explaining a day later that the launches were a test of its ability to strike US military facilities located in Japan.

On March 8, components for the THAAD system began to arrive in South Korea as Seoul wanted the system to be deployed rapidly in response to the threat from North Korea’s ballistic missile tests.

The UN Security Council has adopted a number of resolutions imposing restrictions on North Korea in order to make Pyongyang halt its nuclear and missile activities.

North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2005. The United States, Japan and South Korea, as well as Russia and China, took part in talks with North Korea on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula between 2003 and 2009, when Pyongyang withdrew from the talks.