XIAMEN (China) (Sputnik) — North Korea will not abandon the development of nuclear weapons under the pressure of sanctions since it regards this program as a security issue, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.
Putin recalled the story with Iraq and the execution of Saddam Hussein, who had abandoned the production of weapons of mass destruction but was killed, just as his family, under the pretext of a search for weapons.
"This is what everyone knows, everyone remembers this. And North Korea knows and remembers it well. Do you think that because of the adoption of some sanctions, North Korea will abandon the course it took to create weapons of mass destruction?" Putin told reporters.
The Russian leader thinks that hysteria around North Korea is useless as it can only lead to global catastrophe and mass casualties.
"In these circumstances the military hysteria around North Korea is useless, it's a dead-end situation," the Russian president said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that dialogue with North Korea should be conducted, it should not be afraid for its security.
"It is necessary to push the issue to a dialogue between all interested parties. All participants in this process, including North Korea, should not have any of these considerations that are associated with the threat of destruction, but, on the contrary, all parties to the conflict should get on the path of cooperation," Putin told reporters after the BRICS summit.
The Russian leader added that trade turnover between Russia and North Korea almost equals zero.
The three-day BRICS summit in China's Xiamen kicked off on Sunday. The event was held in the new so-called BRICS Plus format, with the leaders of such non-BRICS countries as Egypt, Guinea, Mexico, Tajikistan and Thailand also taking part in the event alongside the leaders of the five BRICS nations: Russia, China, Brazil, South Africa and India.
