The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Andrey Rudenko, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, met with Lee Do-hoon, South Korea's Ambassador to Russia, on the 26th (local time) and urged the South Korean government to reconsider its confrontational policies. It also claimed that the current South Korean leadership is responsible for the deterioration of relations between South Korea and Russia.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed the details of the meeting between Deputy Minister Rudenko and Ambassador Lee at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building on its website.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "Through Ambassador Lee, we urged the South Korean authorities to reconsider the confrontational policies that escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula and to choose a path that seeks effective ways to achieve peace, stability, and reconciliation in Northeast Asia."
It also claimed, "The destruction of the constructive cooperation built over decades is the fault of the current South Korean leadership."
Regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin's state visit to North Korea on the 18th-19th and the signing of the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty between North Korea and Russia, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it "cannot tolerate the 'anti-Russian remarks' made by senior officials of the South Korean government" concerning the development of bilateral cooperation.
It further asserted, "The baseless accusations that Russia and North Korea threaten peace and security on the Korean Peninsula are intended to divert the international community's attention from the United States' aggressive plan to maintain its declining hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region by establishing a U.S.-centered military bloc in Northeast Asia to contain Russia and China."
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