North Korea Sanctions Must Be Lifted For Denuclearization, Russian Foreign Minister Says

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is of the opinion that complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula would happen only if the sanctions against Pyongyang were lifted. Lavrov, who reached North Korea on Thursday, was on a visit to the country to discuss the situation in the Korean peninsula with his counterpart.

“In regards to sanctions, it is absolutely obvious that starting the whole conversation about the solution of the nuclear problem of the Korean Peninsula, we proceed from the fact that it cannot be complete until the sanctions are abolished,” Lavrov said following talks with North Korea's foreign minister Ri Yong Ho, Russian international television network RT reported.

Lavrov also called for concrete agreements on the issue which are in everyone’s interest, and added Russian government did not think it had any involvement with North Korea’s expected talks with President Donald Trump.

"This cannot be achieved at one go. There can be no immediate denuclearization, this should be done step by step and all sides should go halfway during every single phase of this process," Lavrov added, Sputnik International reported. "I don’t think we should explore North Korea’s talking points that it plans to bring to the negotiations with the U.S. Expert consultations are under way in preparation for the talks, and we don’t feel like we are in a position to interfere with this process."

However, he stressed after the agreements are presented to the international community for scrutiny, there might be some initiatives that the United Nations Security Council might need to support, and such “concrete agreements” will be backed by Russia in the interest of all parties involved.

"We urge all parties involved to remember about their responsibility for this very fragile process to avoid its breakdown," he warned.

The sanctions Lavrov mentioned are the ones the UN as well as many other countries imposed on North Korea after it declared itself a nuclear power in 2015 and also conducted nuclear tests, which were in violation of the United Nations’ regulations.

Lavrov’s comments came at a time when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Moscow needs to stop meddling in “U.S. domestic matters.” Pompeo said this was the only way to improve relations between the two countries.

To achieve that, Russia will need to “demonstrate that it is prepared to take concrete actions to address our concerns, including interfering in U.S. domestic matters,” he said in a phone call with Lavrov.

As part of the preparations for the historic summit, North Korean top official Kim Yong Chol met Pompeo on Wednesday and will be meeting him again Thursday. It is believed the two top officials would be adding the finishing touches to the summit preparations.

Kim, who was until recently blacklisted in the United States, is the vice chairman of the Central Committee of North Korea’s ruling Worker’s Party.

A senior state department official said Pompeo and Kim tried to clinch the details of the denuclearization plan, with the U.S. trying to convince North Korea it would be safe without the weapons, BBC reported.