US alarmed Russia close to accepting nuclear-armed North Korea

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Gaza, at U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S., October 16, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States voiced alarm at the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday that Russia was close to accepting a nuclear-armed North Korea, as Moscow and Pyongyang defended their growing cooperation.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in September that Moscow viewed the notion of "denuclearising" North Korea as a closed issue, as it understood Pyongyang's logic of relying on nuclear weapons as the foundation of its defence.