1 Dec 2017 21:56

U.S.'s withdrawal from Iranian deal to create negative precedent in terms of resolving situation surrounding N. Korea - Lavrov

ROME. Dec 1 (Interfax) - Washington's possible withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal would create a negative precedent in the context of resolving the situation surrounding North Korea's nuclear program, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"If the United States withdraws from this deal now, it will lose credibility in the eyes of those of whom it currently demanding cessation of their nuclear program, namely North Korea," Lavrov said at the third international conference, Mediterranean Dialogues, in Rome on Friday.

"There's no need to mend what's not broken," he said.

"I hope that neither party will break the deal," Lavrov said, adding that many analysts and officials in the United States agree with this.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un receives the wrong signal when demands are made of him to forgo the nuclear program and being negotiations on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, he said.

"He [Kim Jong Un] will say: why should I abandon the program, even if they offer me a deal, who knows what will happen when a new president enters the White House?" Lavrov said.