Speaking at the BRICS summit in China on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said further sanctions against North Korea “would now be useless and ineffective,” because “they will eat grass but they will not turn away from the path that will provide for their security.”
“What can establish security? The restoration of international law. We should promote dialogue among all interested parties,” Putin added, without explaining what kind of “dialogue” would convince North Korea to give up its often-stated unshakable goal of developing nuclear missiles—a goal Putin himself said the North Koreans would not surrender, even if sanctions impoverished them to the point of eating grass to survive.
Putin’s comments about North Korea justifiably fearing for its own “security” sound like a tacit endorsement of Pyongyang’s demands for an end to joint U.S.-South Korean military drills as a precondition for further talks.
Putin simultaneously described sanctions against North Korea as the “road to nowhere,” warning of a possible humanitarian catastrophe if food and fuel shipments to Kim Jong-un’s poverty-stricken subjects are interrupted, and yet also said Russia is willing to discuss “some details” about further punitive measures. READ MORE
