MOSCOW. May 6 (Interfax) - The latest weapon test by North Korea encourages the United States to negotiate a settlement on the Korean Peninsula, yet North Korea should also make peace propositions, Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov wrote on Facebook on Saturday.
"The launches took place ahead of next week's visit of U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun to Japan and South Korea. The message is clear: Pyongyang indicates that an agreement should be reached with it, instead of anyone else, and that the attempts of pressure and intimidation would not work," Kosachyov said.
Media reports about the latest weapon test by North Korea have been contradictory, Kosachyov said. The South Korean news agency Yonhap said with reference to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that Pyongyang had tested short-range missiles, but reported later that "shells" were fired.
One way or another, the trials have a political, rather than military-technical connotation, Kosachyov said.
"Still, North Korea should offer a carrot, i.e. the readiness for talks and peace propositions, as well," he said.