By RFE/RL

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the Korean Peninsula was on the verge of a major “conflict” over the tense standoff between the United States and North Korea after Pyongyang fired a missile over Japan last week.

In an article published on the Kremlin’s website on September 1, Putin called for negotiations, saying the crisis will only be solved through “direct dialogue between all concerned parties, without preconditions."

"Provocations, pressure, and bellicose, offensive rhetoric is the road to nowhere,” the article said.

Pyongyang has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States.

On August 26, North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to say that "all options" were on the table in an implied threat of pre-emptive military action.

Putin said a roadmap drawn up by Russia and China was a way to gradually reduce the tensions.

The roadmap involves a mutual pause in missile tests by North Korea and joint South Korean-U.S. military exercises, which Pyongyang sees as preparations for invasion.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP