Putin sells Russian-Chinese plan to diffuse North Korea crisis

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Russian President Vladimir Putin says supporting a Russian-Chinese road map would help resolve the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

Speaking after the talks with the visiting South Korean president, Putin in televised remarks urged North Korea's neighbors to support the Russian-Chinese roadmap. He said it "offers a genuine way to defuse the tensions and a step-by-step settlement."

"We should not give in to emotions and push Pyongyang into a corner," Putin said in a news conference after the meeting, held on the sidelines of a conference on economic development of Russia's Far East. "As never before everyone should show restraint and refrain from steps leading to escalation and tensions."

Russia and China both share a border with North Korea.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley has dismissed the Russian-Chinese roadmap, saying the United States is "done talking about North Korea."

The Russian president also slammed the “useless” sanctions imposed on North Korea, and called the U.S. “ridiculous” for asking for Moscow’s help while sanctioning Russian companies.

"Sanctions of any kind would now be useless and ineffective,” Putin said, adding it leads to a “road to nowhere.”

“It’s ridiculous to put us on the same [sanctions] list as North Korea and then ask for our help in imposing sanctions on North Korea,” he said. “This is being done by people who mix up Australia with Austria.”

Putin refrained from outwardly criticizing President Trump, but said the U.S. leader was “not my bride, and I’m not his groom.”

While Putin reiterated Moscow's opposition to new sanctions against North Korea, he told reporters he had assured South Korean President Moon Jae-in that Moscow condemns North Korea's nuclear test and thinks it "flagrantly violates" international law.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who will meet Putin in Vladivostok on Thursday, said before his departure from Japan that "we must make North Korea understand there is no bright future for the country if it pursues the current path.

The Associated Press contributed to this report