Contributing to the discourse on the Korean Peninsula crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said North Koreans would rather "eat grass" than halt their burgeoning nuclear programme, which has prompted many countries including the US to seek the toughest sanctions against the country.
Putin, speaking at the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China, also said the North Korean impasse should be handled with peaceful diplomacy, and warned that escalating the crisis could cause a "global catastrophe" and result in "huge loss of life."
The Russian leader said "ramping up military hysteria in such conditions is senseless," and called for a diplomatic solution to the standoff between the US President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
North Korea on Sunday had claimed it had successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb — sixth nuclear test carried out by the country — which possibly triggered a 6.3-magnitude artificial earthquake.
Putin condemned the test and said it was a "provocative" act. However, he also said any attempt by the United Nations to impose additional sanctions on North Korea would be "useless and ineffective" as Kim feels threatened by the West and would do anything to safeguard his regime.
"They will eat grass but will not stop their programme as long as they do not feel safe," Putin said about the nation that is isolated from the world.
With North Korea's burgeoning nuclear programme, unbridled missile tests and the Unites States' threats of military action, a highly-plausible prospect of nuclear war looms across the world.
Sensing a nuclear threat, South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday sought to find common ground with his Russian counterpart to prevent the situation on the Korean peninsula from getting out of control.
"If we fail to stop North Korea's provocations now, it could sink into an uncontrollable situation," Moon said in opening remarks before a meeting with Putin in Vladivostok, Russia. "I want to seek a fundamental solution to resolve the North Korea nuclear problem here."
Pyongyang's announcement on Sunday was met with severe verbal backlash from across the world, with countries like the US and Japan demanding even stricter sanctions from the United Nations (UN) against the North in an effort to cripple its economy, thereby forcing the nation to curb its missile tests.
