Russia has called for a diplomatic solution to tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin said. RIA Novosti reports that the statement came a week after the North shelled a South Korean island.
Posts Tagged ‘standoff’
Iranian, U.S. leaders indicate nuclear talks possible
September 24th, 2010 |
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The leaders of Iran and the United States have indicated they are ready to resume international talks aimed at ending the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program. Presidents Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Barack Obama spoke about the nuclear issue in separate speeches on September 23 to the United Nations General Assembly. The speeches came four months after the latest round of UN sanctions was imposed against Iran for failing to curb uranium-enrichment activities.
UK gunman kills himself after police stand-off
July 10th, 2010 |
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One of the biggest manhunts in Britain has come to an end after fugitive Raoul Moat killed himself in northeastern England after a stand-off with police. Police said 37-year-old Raoul Moat shot himself in a field in Rothbury in Northumberland in northeastern England late on Friday evening, following six-hour negotiations with the police.
Stand-off in Bangkok
April 26th, 2010 |
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No peace, no war in Thailand
IT TOOK several anxious days, and a lethal grenade attack, for Thailand’s warring sides to reach a tentative peace deal. Its unravelling was swift and disheartening, and brings Thailand back to the brink of further unrest. On April 23rd red-shirt protesters, who are camped out in Bangkok’s shopping district, revised their demand for snap elections, saying a three-month timetable was acceptable. Peace seemed to have broken out, to the relief of residents braced for another violent showdown between security forces and the red shirts, whose rallies attract tens of thousands.
But the next day the prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, shot down the peace plan. He said he would not be forced into dissolving Parliament, which is the rallying cry of the red shirts’ six-week-long protest in the capital. In a taped interview broadcast on April 25th, Mr Abhisit held out little hope of a compromise. He said his government was working to retake the streets from the demonstrators, without giving details, and said his solution “may not please everyone”. By his side, in a show of unity, was the head of the army, General Anupong Paochinda, who has been resisting pressure from government and military hawks to crack down hard. He wants a political compromise to end the crisis. He may not get one. …
Efforts to resolve political standoff in Kyrgyzstan
April 14th, 2010 |
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The deposed president of Kyrgyzstan repeated his demand for safety guarantees ahead of talks Wednesday with civil rights groups on his fate. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev made the call in the south of the country where he fled last week after an uprising that saw an interim government headed by Roza Otunbayeva take power.
Honduras standoff at Brazil embassy set for long haul
September 23rd, 2009 |
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Honduran soldiers and riot police surrounded the Brazilian embassy, where ousted President Manuel Zelaya was sheltering on Wednesday. It could turn into a long standoff and deepen the country’s crisis.
North Korea ready for nuclear talks with US
July 27th, 2009 |
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Pyongyang seeks to end standoff with US and address foreign tensions over missile launches
North Korea said today it was open to talks about the rising tension over its nuclear weapons programme, a marked shift in tactics after months of ratcheting up foreign anxieties with nuclear test and missile launches.
The statement appeared to be a call for direct talks with the United States, a longstanding goal of the regime. It comes days after the North Korean leadership traded jibes with the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, at a regional summit in Thailand. It said she was “by no means intelligent” and looked like a schoolgirl or a pensioner going shopping, after she compared it to a group of “small children”.
In today’s announcement the foreign ministry in Pyongyang made clear its continued opposition to the six-party nuclear talks, which it said sought only to “disarm and incapacitate” the nation.
The statement from a foreign ministry spokesman, carried by state media, said that siding with those who sought their resumption “will not help to ease tension”. But it said: “There is a specific and reserved form of dialogue that can address the current situation.”
Analysts say North Korea has used its weapons tests to improve its technology, advertise it to potential customers and bolster support for the regime after the illness of the leader, Kim Jong-il. But they also believe it is attempting to grab the attention of the US and push it into direct negotiations.
The US has said it would hold direct talks with Pyongyang within the six-nation process if it returned to the negotiating table and took irreversible steps towards denuclearisation. North Korea quit the aid-for-disarmament discussions in April.
The talks stalled last winter as North Korea wrangled with the US over how to implement agreed measures and verify its activities.
But Washington will not want to be seen to reward North Korea’s military tests, and Clinton told NBC yesterday the multinational negotiations were the appropriate way to engage with the state.
The other nations involved in the discussions – China, Japan, South Korea and Russia – would be reluctant to see bilateral talks. Beijing is concerned that a direct relationship between Pyongyang and Washington would damage its own long-term interests.
On Friday, North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations, Sin Son Ho, said the country was “not against a dialogue”, according to Japan’s Kyodo news agency.
North Korea’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said the country’s envoy told an Asian security conference last week the nuclear standoff was a matter between Pyongyang and Washington.
In yesterday’s interview, Clinton repeated her warning that North Korea does not have any friends left after the UN security council’s toughening of sanctions last month.
She praised China, the North’s main ally, for being “extremely positive and productive” in pressuring Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programme.
“We’ve been extremely gratified by their forward-leaning commitment to sanctions and the private messages that they have conveyed to the North Koreans,” Clinton said.
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Greg Mitchell: Cronkite’s 1968 Dissent on Vietnam Helped Save Thousands of Lives
I probably missed the late Walter Cronkite’s most important TV news moment: his famous February 1968 commentary after returning from Vietnam in which he cast strong doubt on our mission there and its chances for success.