Russia urges North Korea to refrain from military actions against South Korea and deems unacceptable its recent bombardment of South Korean territory, which led to loss of life, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"Striking water territory, even if this water territory is disputed, is one thing, but striking land and populated areas is quite another. People were killed, and this is what counts most," Lavrov said at a press conference following negotiations with his Afghan counterpart on Thursday.
"We insist on doing all things necessary so that nothing of the sort ever happens again," Lavrov said.
"Such incidents happened earlier, although everything was limited to exchanges of single shots," Lavrov said. "But the latest incident was preceded by reports that North Korea had urged South Korea not to conduct those exercises and that firing practice. But the exercises were conducted," he said. "What should be seen here is probably not only the obviously unnecessary attempts to stoke tensions but also what actually happened," he said, apparently referring to loss of life in South Korea.
