MOSCOW. April 13 (Interfax) - Russia and the United States have a common aspiration to settle the North Korean problem by peaceful means, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"We discussed among other issues the situation on and surrounding the Korean Peninsula. We, as far as I understood, given all nuances, probably significant nuances, have a common aspiration to settle this problem by solely political, peaceful means and achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through negotiations," Lavrov told a press conference after talks with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Moscow on Wednesday.
"There are certain efforts that participants in what was previously called the 'six-party process' are now taking," Lavrov said.
"We also have some ideas. And Chinese colleagues have some ideas. I think that we should get united around the aspiration to solve this problem by solely peaceful means," Lavrov said.
In turn, Tillerson said that that U.S. does not plan to launch a military operation against North Korea. "The Carl Vinson strike group is routinely in the Pacific Ocean. It is in the Pacific theater. Its movements in the Pacific are made in a way that is planned by the military planners. There is no particular objective in its current course. The Vinson sails up and down the Pacific routinely, and so I would not read anything into the Carl Vinson's current locations."