Russian Federation may reduce United States diplomatic personnel by 155: Putin

North Korea’s detonation of a hydrogen bomb on Sunday marked its most powerful nuclear test to date.

Nikki Haley, the USA ambassador to the United Nations, on Monday called on the Security Council to impose the strongest possible sanctions on Pyongyang.

Vladimir Putin heaped scorn on USA president Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday, describing Washington’s latest attack against the Russian diplomatic mission in the United States as “boorish” and “unprecedented”.

Putin said North Korea would not give up its nuclear program no matter how tough the sanctions. Experts have scoffed at the former real estate mogul’s proposal as hardly feasible and a likely bluff, as Russian Federation and China both have extensive trade links with Pyongyang, which enjoys considerable wealth in rare earth minerals.

The North has conducted a series of missile and nuclear tests in the past year despite sanctions, testing two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July and firing a missile over Japan last week.

According to the North Korean minister for External Economic Affairs, North Korea supported the idea of cooperation with Russian and South Korea, but the actual time for this hasn’t come yet.

Referring to North Korea sanctions, Haley said “enough is enough” for half measures, and “We must now adopt the strongest possible measures”.

“The time for half-measures in the Security Council is over”. “So, we reserve the right to make a decision regarding this number of USA diplomats in Moscow”.

North Korea says it needs to defend itself against what it sees as U.S. aggression.

Russian Federation has veto power as a permanent UN Security Council member along with China, the United States, Britain, and France.

After meeting South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Russian leader Vladimir Putin called for talks with North Korea, saying sanctions are not a solution to the country’s nuclear and missile development.

North Korea “would rather eat grass” than abandon its nuclear program “as long as they do not feel safe”, Putin said.

Putin said Pyongyang should take a lesson from history, invoking Hussein’s demise as Iraq’s dictator in 2006, CNN reported.

“This does not reflect well on our American partners”, the Russian president told a press conference at the end of the Brics summit in Xiamen, China.

China is by far North Korea’s biggest trading partner, accounting for 92 percent of two-way trade past year. “The other half is dialogue and negotiation”, he said.

Moon said close coordination between the two countries has become “even more critical” in light of the North Korean nuclear issue.

“The situation is very grave”.

“Russia condemns this action from North Korea”.

Pyongyang is likely to launch another intercontinental ballistic missile as early as this Saturday, adding to fears that the regime has the capability to put a nuclear warhead on a missile that could reach the U.S. mainland. However, around 90 percent of Pyongyang’s trade is with Beijing and Trump has often said the Chinese should take more steps to rein in Kim’s nuclear ambitions.

Putin also commented on the planned supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine by the U.S., saying that the worldwide consensus was that “supplying arms to zones of conflict does not help reconciliation and can only make the situation worse”.