Russia's Putin and Japan's Abe tell North Korea to avoid provocative behaviour

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday called on North Korea and other countries to avoid behaviour or rhetoric that could increase tensions around Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow after holding talks, Putin and Abe said they had agreed to cooperate closely to try to help defuse tensions around the secretive Asian state and that both wanted to see a resumption of six-party international talks with North Korea.