Ryabkov on US-North Korea conflict: this is blind alley

Washington and Pyongyang are playing a dangerous game to up the ante, this is a blind alley, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.

"As far as I understand, at the moment the US is ready for a direct dialogue only theoretically," he said in an interview with the Mezhdunarodnaya Zhizn (International Life) magazine. "It is putting forward unrealistic conditions for the other party. Accordingly, the other side seems to draw a conclusion that such pressure can only be countered by a certain force factor. This is a dangerous game to up the ante and a blind alley," Ryabkov added.

According to him, the situation in Northeast Asia is "explosive, and it is unclear how it will be evolving." "The question is how to find the point of convergence for Pyongyang’s and Washington’s interests and capabilities," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister added.

"We propose certain schemes, and China does the same thing," Ryabkov stressed. "Actually, these schemes boil down to the need to freeze the situation and ensure the status quo, at least for some time, and then start to ease tensions step by step," the diplomat added.