Press. voanews.com
U.S. President
Donald Trump has accused Russia of helping North Korea evade international
sanctions, and said Pyongyang is making daily progress in its quest to develop
ballistic missiles that can reach the United States
In an Oval
Office interview with Reuters Wednesday, Trump praised China for its efforts to
restrict oil and coal supplies to North Korea but said Beijing could do much
more to help constrain Pyongyang. But he said Russia appears to be filling in
the gaps left by the Chinese.
On Russia, North
Korea
“Russia is not
helping us at all with North Korea,” Trump told Reuters. “What China is helping
us with, Russia is denting. In other words, Russia is making up for some of
what China is doing.”He suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin might
deliberately be subverting the sanctions.
“He can do a
lot,” Trump said of Putin. “But unfortunately we don’t have much of a
relationship with Russia, and in some cases it’s probable that what China takes
back, Russia gives. So the net result is not as good as it could be.”
During the
nearly hour long interview, Trump was less optimistic than he has appeared
recently on the value of direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
When asked by
reporters whether he has communicated directly with Kim, Trump was evasive. But
he said he might be willing to have a face-to face meeting with the North
Korean leader.
“I’d sit down,
but I’m not sure that sitting down will solve the problem,” Trump told Reuters.
He noted, however, that past efforts by previous administrations had been
unsuccessful in limiting Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.
“I’m not sure
that talks will lead to anything meaningful,” he said. “They’ve talked for 25
years and they’ve taken advantage of our presidents, of our previous
presidents.”
Trump told
Reuters he welcomed inter-Korean cooperation on the upcoming Winter Olympic
Games to be held in the South next month, saying it could be an initial phase
in helping diffuse tensions on the Korean peninsula.
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