Russia's statments on the threats from North Korea are nonsensical

Washington Examiner:
Russia accused the United States of trying "to justify" armed conflict with North Korea, rebuffing the Trump administration's response to an unprecedented missile launch by the rogue regime.

"It is utterly clear for us that any attempts to justify a military solution are inadmissible," Vladimir Safronkov, Russia's deputy envoy to the United Nations, told the U.N. Security Council during a Wednesday meeting. "In the very same manner, attempts to economically strangle North Korea are equally unacceptable as millions of people are in great humanitarian need."

That statement amounted to a total rejection of U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley's remarks moments earlier. Haley, noting that the United States has "considerable" military power, demanded that Russia and China back a new package of sanctions to deprive the regime of funding for its nuclear weapons and missile program. A top Russian diplomat is headed to D.C. to discuss the North Korea crisis further, but the U.N. meeting showed a vast gulf between the two positions.

"To sit there and oppose sanctions or to sit there and go in defiance of a resolution means that you're holding the hands of [North Korean dictator] Kim Jong-un," Haley said in reply to Safronkov's statement.

Russia and the United States couldn't even agree that North Korea test-fired a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile, demonstrating the capability to launch such missiles for the first time. Safronkov said that Russian military officials have "established" that "the parameters and data regarding the targeting of the missile are in line with the tactical criteria of midrange ballistic missiles."

Haley reminded him that the U.S., the United Nations, and North Korea itself have all identified the latest launch as an ICBM. "So, if you need any sort of intelligence to let you know that the rest of the world sees this is an ICBM, I'm happy to provide it," she said.

The distinction between a long-range ICBM and a midrange missile is significant, because Haley dubbed the launch of the long-range rocket "a clear and sharp military escalation" that puts the United States at greater risk.
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The Russian objection is just silly.  North Korea has threatened to wipe out the US and its allies in the region and has also threatened attacks on major US cities.  These threats would clearly justify a preemptive strike against North Korea to stop such attacks.  

The Russian-Chinese proposal for stopping defensive exercises in South Korea would only make it easier for the North Koreans to achieve their goal of conquest of South Korea.  It is not a realistic proposal.  On top of that, the North Korean's word is no good even if they agreed to such a proposal.  They have violated every such agreement in the past.

The Russians and the Chinese are not the ones being threatened with nuclear annihilation.

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