Russia 'ready' to mediate between US, North Korea
Moscow: Russia is ready to serve as a mediator between North Korea and the US if both sides agree, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
"You can't become a mediator between two countries just on your own will. It is impossible, you need both sides to be willing," Peskov told CNN on Tuesday.
Peskov's comments came just days after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a new set of US-drafted sanctions on North Korea in response to its November 29 ballistic missile test.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley called the latest sanctions as the "toughest yet" as they were aimed to further restrict energy supplies, tighten restrictions on smuggling and the use of North Korean workers overseas.
The vote was unanimous but Russia's Ambassador to the UN criticised the resolution saying that the US had rushed it through with several last-minute amendments that targeted North Korean workers abroad.
The resolution's requirement of a 24-month period for North Korean workers to return home "is the minimum acceptable period necessary to deal with the logistical aspects of the issue," said Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vasilly Nebenzia.
"Unfortunately, our call to preclude a further escalation of tensions, to revise the policy of mutual intimidation, was not heeded," he said.
The US also issued sanctions on two North Korea citizens over their alleged involvement in the country's ballistic missile programme.
Meanwhile, during a telephonic conversation with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was "inadmissible" that Washington heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula with "aggressive rhetoric" and military buildup.
"The two sides believe that Pyongyang's nuclear missile development violated the requirements of the UN Security Council", the Russian Foreign Ministry said, underscoring the need for "an early transition from words of sanctions to a negotiation process".
The two top diplomats also considered steps to overcome the conflicts in Syria while maintaining its territorial integrity, including the plan to hold an inter-Syrian national dialogue in Russia's Sochi.
They also agreed to intensify dialogue on issues concerning strategic stability.
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11 more bodies retrieved from Arunachal accident site
Itanagar (PTI): Eleven more bodies were retrieved on Saturday from the deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh's Anjaw district, where a mini-truck on which 22 labourers from Assam were travelling fell, an official said.
With this, 17 bodies have been recovered from the accident site, Anjaw's deputy commissioner Milo Kojin said.
He said three more bodies will be brought out on Sunday.
The operation, being conducted by a joint team of the NDRF and Army, resumed at 6 am.
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"The retrieval process was extremely difficult because of the treacherous terrain, and the gorge is very deep," Kojin said.
The operation was suspended around 4 pm due to low visibility and will be resumed on Sunday morning, he said.
"One person is still missing, and a search operation will be carried out tomorrow," he added.
The accident happened on the evening of December 8, around 40 km from Hayuliang towards Chaglagam in the district. On the evening of December 10, one survivor managed to climb out of the gorge and reach a nearby Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) labour camp, following which the authorities were alerted.
Six bodies were recovered from the gorge on Friday and handed over to their families on Saturday.
