Russia virtually accused the US of pushing North Korea (NK) into a corner and provoked their tests and called for more flexibility from the Bush Administration for the resumption of the 6-party talks. Statements coming right after the exit of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from Moscow showed that the US has failed to convince Russian leaders on punishing Pyongyang for the tests. Instead, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that trying to punish NK will push “More and more countries” to look “for ways to ensure their security in a situation when the use of force is a growing factor in international relations.”
Seen as a pointed indictment of US unilateralism in Iraq , Lavrov added that
“All sides must show realism and depart from extreme, uncompromising positions.”
Although Rice had met President Vladimir Putin and Defense and Foreign Ministers, there were no customary statements or joint press conference at the end of the visit. Russia says that “It is impossible to handle the problem of non-proliferation without responding” to a concern of nations about being a target of “use of force.”
Russia also holds the US for not fulfilling the disastrous Agreed Framework Accord of 1994 that former US President Bill Clinton brokered through another President Jimmy Carter. Russian analysts seem to say, and their Government seem to agree, that the failure of the US to uphold this agreement and its bellicose statements warning NK about tests pushed them to test their plutonium device.