MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that a
military strike against North Korea designed to destroy its nuclear and missile
programme might not succeed because Pyongyang could have hidden military
facilities that nobody knows about.
Russia is strongly opposed to the idea of such a strike, an idea U.S.
President Donald Trump has floated, favouring a mixture of diplomacy and
economic incentives instead.
But Putin, speaking at an energy forum in Moscow, mused on the subject
on Wednesday, making it clear he had serious doubts about the military efficacy
of such a move, as well as other political and moral concerns.
"Can a global strike against North Korea be launched to disarm it?
Yes. Will it achieve its aim? We don't know. Who knows what they have there and
where. Nobody knows with 100 percent certainty as it's a closed country."
Putin said Russia had more reason than most to be concerned by
Pyongyang's missile programme, saying that North Korea's nuclear testing range
was located just 200 kilometres (124.27 miles) from the Russian border.
The Russian leader also reiterated his call for diplomacy to be allowed
to run its course and for all sides to dial down the bellicose rhetoric. He
also said he thought Trump was listening to Russia's views on the crisis.
More sanctions were the road to nowhere, Putin told the same forum,
saying around 40,000 North Korean citizens were currently working in Russia.
Such workers are known to regularly send back part of their wages to
the North Korean authorities.
(Reporting by Jack Stubbs/Katya
Golubkova/Vladimir Soldatkin/Dasha Korsunskaya/Olesya Astakhova; Writing by
Andrew Osborn; Editing by Jack Stubbs)
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