US-S Korea Drills Seek to Sabotage Pyongyang-Seoul Peace - Russian Lawmaker

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ongoing US-South Korean military drills are aimed at sabotaging the reconciliation efforts taken by the two Koreas, Viktor Bondarev, the chairman of the Russian parliament's upper house Defense and Security Committee, told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"Joint South Korean-US military drills Max Thunder may impede establishing peace on the Korean peninsula. Certainly, the initiative to sabotage the reconciliation of the two Koreas belongs to the United States," Bondarev said.

Bondarev stressed that if the US side and its allies continued with similar actions, then all the agreements achieved through "enormous efforts" at the recent summit of the two Koreas would not be implemented.

READ MORE: S Korea, US to Go On With Drills Despite Pyongyang Suspending Talks — Ministry

Last week, Seoul and Washington launched their annual two-week Max Thunder air drills. Pyongyang said that the exercise was a violation of the Panmunjom agreement and canceled the inter-Korean negotiations which were scheduled for Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Seoul expressed its regret over Pyongyang’s decision.

During the historic summit in April in the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a joint declaration, agreeing to take measures to support international efforts aimed at denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and proceed with the reunion programs for the separated Korean families.