"God forbid if an armed path to resolve the conflict occurs to anyone, especially with the threats of using chemical weapons. This will be a universal catastrophe not only for South Korea, Japan, but also for other states," Matvienko said.
The potential armed conflict in lieu of diplomatic efforts would "create a dangerous precedent" and "launch a course of events fraught with grave consequences," she stressed.
"No matter how difficult, only the political and diplomatic path, only negotiations can defuse the situation, force North Korea to implement the UN Security Council resolutions so that this state behaves as a civilized member of the world community," Matvienko said.
Russia condemns North Korea's latest UN Security Council resolution-violating missile tests, Chairperson of the Council of the Federation said.
"Russia condemns the actions of North Korea on missile tests, as this contradicts the UN Security Council resolution," Matvienko said in an interview.
The senior Russian senator called on China and other regional and global players "to make every effort to resume peace talks on the situation around North Korea aimed at finding a peaceful solution to this issue."
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