Russian President Vladimir Putin urged North Korea to learn from the fall of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, warning that it could suffer a similar fate unless it tones down its nuclear program, CNN reported.
Putin, speaking at the close of the BRICs summit in China on Tuesday, warned against "military hysteria" in solving the Korean crisis, claiming it could lead to a "global catastrophe with a lot of victims."
North Korea launched its sixth test of a nuclear weapon Sunday with seismological data indicating the weapon was the most powerful ever to be detonated by Pyongyang, according to nuclear experts.
Putin said Pyongyang should take a lesson from history, invoking Hussein’s demise as Iraq’s dictator in 2006, CNN reported.
"Saddam Hussein rejected the production of weapons of mass destruction, but even under that pretense, he was destroyed and members of his family were killed," Putin said. "The country was demolished and Saddam Hussein was hanged. Everyone knows that and everyone in North Korea knows that.
"Do you really think due to some sanctions that North Korea will turn away from the path they've undertaken to create weapons of mass destruction?
"Russia condemns this action from North Korea. We think these actions take a provocative character, but we should not forget and North Koreans should not forget what happened in Iraq.”
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