Russia Issues Warning on Iran, N. Korea

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The world must be firm but also very cautious when dealing with the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs, Russia's foreign minister said Saturday during an Asian-Pacific summit in Vietnam.

It was Russia's latest warning that harsh actions against Iran or North Korea could undermine efforts to resolve the disputes over their nuclear programs.

``The international community is obligated to approach the resolution of the Korean peninsula issue and the issue of the Iranian nuclear program extremely cautiously - firmly but cautiously,'' Sergey Lavrov said on the sidelines of the summit. ``If we force this situation into a corner then the threats of (nuclear) proliferation will significantly increase.''

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Lavrov also said Russia and China agreed to work together to promote a swift resumption of six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program. The talks involve the two Koreas, Russia, China, Japan and the U.S.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6225216,00.html