Kremlin says Russia open to mediating between US and North Korea to reduce tensions

Kim Jong Un (L), US President Donald Trump (R). (Source: AP Photo)

Russia on Tuesday indicated that it was ready to mediate between the United States and North Korea to reduce escalating tensions, if asked to. The development comes amid growing tensions after the United Nations imposed fresh sanctions against Pyongyang. “Russia’s readiness to clear the way for de-escalation is obvious,” said spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

North Korea had threatened to punish all those countries who supported the bid for sanctions which was imposed following Pyongyang’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile test. North Korean officials said that the test put US within the range of its ICBM. The fresh sanctions aim to limit its access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad. The UN resolution seeks to ban nearly 90 per cent of refined petroleum exports to North Korea by capping them at 500,000 barrels a year.

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been trading words against each other as the country slowly inches towards achieving nuclear missile capability.

Meanwhile, neighbouring South Korea, on Tuesday hoped that Pyongyang and Washington would open negotiations and diplomatic channels will be engaged between them in 2018. “North Korea will seek negotiation with the United States while continuing to pursue its effort to be recognised as a de facto nuclear-possessing country,” South Korea’s Unification Ministry said in a report, without offering any reasons for its conclusion.

Russia, which now talks of mediating the negotiations between the US and North Korea, supported the sanctions in the UN. Among other countries which supported the move was China, a lone major ally of the North Korean regime in the region.

Comments

Over 1 lakh illegal immigrants arrested in US in 2017

On January 25, Trump issued an executive order to set forth the Administration’s immigration enforcement and removal priorities. (Representational Image) The US authorities have arrested 143,470 illegal immigrants this year, according to a latest report. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in its annual report that it has made 143,470 administrative arrests in fiscal year 2017, increasing 30 per cent Year-on-Year, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. An administrative arrest is the arrest of an alien for a civil violation of the immigration laws, which is subsequently adjudicated by an immigration judge or through other administrative processes. Of the total arrests, 110,568 occurred after January 20, which is a 42 per cent increase over the same time period last year, according to the report. US President Donald Trump took the oath of office on January 20 this year. On January 25, Trump issued an executive order to set forth the Administration’s immigrat...

Canada debates new harassment legislation amid #MeToo storm

We can afford to do more for people who need it by doing less for people who don’t: Trudeau’s message (Photo Source: Reuters) Canada’s parliament began debate on Monday on new legislation to tighten workplace harassment rules, including those governing politicians, as allegations of sexual misconduct mounted against lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum. The bill, introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in November, gained a new prominence after a federal cabinet minister and two provincial party leaders stepped down last week after being accused of inappropriate behavior. While the proposed law will govern all federal workplaces, including private businesses, the environment among political staffers in Ottawa was in focus as the #MeToo social media movement gained momentum in Canada. “It clearly is a crisis in this workplace,” Employment Minister Patty Hajdu told reporters outside the House of Commons. “We talk a lot about getting wom...

Trump administration drops Obama-era easing of marijuana prosecutions

The US Justice Department on Thursday rescinded an Obama administration policy that had eased enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states that legalized the drug, instead giving federal prosecutors wide latitude to pursue criminal charges. The action by Attorney General Jeff Sessions could have damaging consequences for the burgeoning marijuana industry in the six states including California and Colorado that have legalized the drug for recreational use, plus dozens of others that permit medicinal use. Justice Department officials declined to say whether they might take legal action against those states, saying further steps were “still under consideration.” Federal law still prohibits marijuana even as some states move to legalize it. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said President Donald Trump’s top priority was enforcing federal law “whether it’s marijuana or immigration.” The policy change, detailed by Sessions in a one-page memo to federal prosecutors nationwid...

I GLOBAL NEWZ

Search This Blog