Russia Hopes for Change in US Approach Toward North Korea, Says Envoy

Russia hopes to see a change in the United States' approach toward North Korea, Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov has said.

Ulyanov said the US has maintained what he described as a hostile stance toward North Korea for many years, built in part around alliances with South Korea and Japan aimed at countering Pyongyang.

Regional alliance dynamics

The trilateral security cooperation between the US, South Korea and Japan has been a longstanding feature of regional dynamics in Northeast Asia, with Washington maintaining defense commitments to both Seoul and Tokyo that Moscow has frequently criticized as destabilizing.

Ulyanov's comments reflect Russia's broader position on North Korea, with which Moscow has deepened ties in recent years, including on defense and economic cooperation, amid Russia's own tensions with Western countries over the war in Ukraine.

The Russian envoy did not specify, in remarks available so far, what specific changes in the US approach Moscow would like to see, nor did he indicate whether any diplomatic discussions on the matter are currently underway.