China, Russia gang up

Pyongyang

The presidents of China and Russia called on North Korea this week to abandon its nuclear weapons program. At a summit in Beijing this week, Jiang Zemin and Vladimir Putin said that keeping the Korean peninsula nuclear-free was “important for the destiny of the world.” It was a rare public admonishment by North Korea’s biggest and closest allies. The two countries also called on Pyongyang and Washington to renew dialogue. The U.S. walked out of talks in October, after North Korea abruptly announced that it had been lying for years and secretly building a plant to enrich uranium. But in the past few weeks, USA Today reported, the Bush administration has been “quietly paving the way toward negotiations.”

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up