Moscow Not Competing With Beijing Over Settlement of Korean Crisis – Ambassador

There is no competition between Russia and China in terms of their approaches toward the settlement of the Korean peninsula’s crises, as both countries constantly coordinate their positions on the matter, Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov said Friday.

BEIJING (Sputnik) – On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov told Sputnik that Russia coordinates its road map of the settlement of the North Korean issue with China and highlighted that Moscow supports Beijing's "double freeze" proposal to simultaneously halt North Korean nuclear missile tests and US-South Korean military drills. Russia also supports China’s "parallel advancement" toward denuclearization and creating a regional system of peace and security.

"We have an effective system of consultations between the foreign ministries on all levels, including between the deputy foreign ministers responsible for the matter. The Korean issue is on the agenda of these consultations. There is no competition. There is no secret plan B that would resolve everything. The set of options in terms of discussions is highly limited," Denisov told reporters, ahead of the upcoming visit of Chinese Leader Xi Jinping to Russia.

Most importantly, Russia and China share the same view on the unacceptable nature of military escalation in the region, the Russian ambassador stressed.

"Only negotiations are possible, through diplomatic and political efforts. How do we arrive at this negotiating solution? China proposed its own formulas. We share and support them. But we also have our own view on how and in what combination we can find conditions for the compromise between the military drills under the auspices of the United States and North Korea’s nuclear and rocket programs. The discussion revolves around this issue," Denisov said.

The ambassador added that the situation is highly complicated and will be further discussed by the leadership during Xi’s visit.