Russia Playing 'Pivotal Role in Asia's Power Balance'

Russia could use its clout in Asia to help resolve potentially explosive conflicts in the region, including the North Korea's nuclear program that has put Pyongyang at odds with its neighbors and beyond, as well as multiple territorial disputes over the South China Sea, analyst Rensselaer Lee wrote for the Washington Times.

Russia is "a nuclear-armed state that occupies vital geopolitical space in northeast Asia and plays a pivotal role in Asia's overall power balance," the senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute observed.

It follows then that Moscow could ease simmering tensions in a region that appears to be stable, but could under certain conditions burst into flames. The country's assistance, the analyst added, could range from arbitration to peacekeeping efforts.

"Russia could emerge as an independent balancing or even peacekeeping force in the region, contributing to resolution of festering disputes over the South China Sea, the Korean peninsula and elsewhere," he added.

Pyongyang's increasing assertiveness with regard to its nuclear aspirations is a case in point.

Moscow "is well positioned to contribute substantially to international deliberations over the Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. Russia shares a border with North Korea, has long experience in dealing with successive Kim regimes, and maintains multiple points of leverage that could be used to restrain the North's nuclear ambitions," the analyst explained.

After all, Russia played a major role in nuclear talks with Iran that ended in Tehran and the P5+1 mediators inking a comprehensive agreement. Yet policymakers in the US tend to discuss the DPRK's nuclear ambitions with China, not Russia. This could partially be explained by "the pernicious effect of the Ukraine mess on the US-Russian relationship."

Tensions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs escalated in early January when Pyongyang announced that it had successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test and put a satellite into orbit. These moves violated UN Security Council resolutions and prompted the United Nations as well as the United States to impose sanctions on the country.