Lavrov: the US will not strike North Korea because of Pyongyang nuclear capabilities
The US will not attack North Korea, because they are certain that Pyongyang has nuclear weapons, as stated by the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, in an interview on NTV channel.
"The Americans will not strike [North] Korea, because they not only suspect, but they know for sure, that they have nuclear bombs," the Minister said. According to him, President Vladimir Putin, "more than once" said that "it is impossible to imagine" that the United States, or other countries have "one hundred percent" of the information about every object in the world.
Lavrov underlined that the decision of the United States is based on their experience from invading Iraq. “Iraq was hit only because the Americans had one hundred percent information that there were no weapons of mass destruction there," the Foreign Minister said. He noted that such views were supported by the majority of his interlocutors during the UN General Assembly week.
In addition, Lavrov expressed the hope that this logic will be taken into account in Washington, otherwise the situation, according to the Minister, can go "into a very unpredictable peak," which will result in the deaths of "tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of innocent citizens."
Earlier, US President Donald Trump, while speaking at the UN, threatened North Korea with "complete destruction." The American leader warned that the US would be forced to take such a step if Pyongyang threatens the US or its allies. "Rocket-man (leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea-DPRK, Kim Jong-Un - RBC) is on a suicide mission to destroy his regime," Trump said.
The US permanent representative to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, in an interview with CNN on Monday said that Washington has exhausted all the possibilities to resolve the North Korean problem within the UN framework. The diplomat proposed transferring the resolution of the conflict to the hands of the Pentagon. In addition, Haley recalled that since President Trump threatened to reply to the DPRK with "fire and fury," Pyongyang has conducted several new missile tests.
The Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, on the eve of Trump's speech at the UN, said that diplomatic measures and sanctions against North Korea are still working effectively.
The last nuclear test by North Korea was on September 3rd. Pyongyang's authorities announced the successful test of a hydrogen bomb, its explosion provoked a 6.0 magnitude underground thrust. In response, the UN Security Council condemned Pyongyang’s actions and approved the US-developed resolution on new sanctions against the DPRK.