China, Russia warn US over Korea missile deployment plan

Russia and China have vowed to mutually counter increasing US military presence on the Korean Peninsula, calling on Washington to forgo the installation of a new anti-missile system in the region.

According to Press TV, meeting in Beijing on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, expressed opposition to Washington’s deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea.

“Relevant countries shouldn’t use Pyongyang’s acts as a pretext to increase their military presence on the Korean Peninsula,” Lavrov said during a joint news conference.

South Korea and the US accuse North Korea of pursuing controversial missile programs aimed at delivering nuclear warheads. They have been in formal talks since early this year for the deployment of the THAAD missile system.

“We believe the possible deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system won’t resolve this problem,” Lavrov said.

China has also called on the US to refrain from deploying the sophisticated missile system in the region, saying it would “directly affect strategic security of Russia and China,” Wang said.

He said the deployment could “add fuel to the fire of an already tense situation and even possibly wreck the regional strategic balance.”

SS