As Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia and Xi Jinping’s China deepened their confrontation with the West over the past decade, they were always united with the United States on at least one geopolitical project: preventing North Korea’s nuclear arsenal from growing, or becoming more accurate.
Mr. Putin and Kim Jong-un, the North’s leader, just presided over the memorial service.
Mr. Putin did far more than drop any semblance of a desire to ensure nuclear restraint.
Nowhere in the statements made Wednesday was there even a hint that North Korea should give up any of its estimated 50 or 60 nuclear weapons.
To the contrary, Mr. Putin declared: “Pyongyang has the right to take reasonable measures to strengthen its own defense capability, ensure national security and protect sovereignty” — though he did not address whether those measures included further developing the North’s nuclear weapons.
Persons:
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Organizations:
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Locations:
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