Russia, China offer new plan to ease Korean Peninsula tensions

Russia and China have prepared a new plan of action meant to resolve tensions on the Korean Peninsula, as the United States fails to engage North Korea in demilitarization talks.

“We just have recently agreed with our Chinese colleagues on an updated version of the plan [...] This updated version of the plan will be distributed among all partners. It is a draft plan, not a concerted document,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov told reporters on Tuesday.

The draft plan would be presented to North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, who is currently on an official visit to Moscow, Morgulov added.

The Russian official said the newer version had been updated based on feedback received from partners.

Last year, Russia, China, and North Korea agreed on the need for five-way negotiations including the US and South Korea to resolve tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The newer plan consists of economic, political, military, and humanitarian provisions aimed at stabilizing the situation in the region, Morgulov said.

North Korea has been involved in diplomacy with the South since 2018. The rapprochement between the long-time rivals then led to diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang, with Seoul acting as a broker.

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have since met three times. But lower-level diplomacy has snagged.

The US has refused to take meaningful action toward peace — including in the form of sanctions relief — despite several good faith measures by the North.

Even though the summits between Trump and Kim had helped partially propel the talks, Washington’s obstinacy has led to Pyongyang refusing to agree to another “useless” summit.

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