Russia chides Tillerson over US rhetoric on North Korea

MOSCOW – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that US military exercises and aggressive rhetoric were causing an unacceptable escalation in tension on the Korean peninsula, the Russian foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Lavrov met Tillerson on the sidelines of a conference in Vienna where they discussed the standoff over North Korea's weapons program.

"Lavrov once again underlined that the escalation of tension, which is resulting from US military maneuvers in the region of the Korean peninsula, and from aggressive rhetoric, is unacceptable," the ministry said in a statement describing the meeting with Tillerson.

The Russian foreign minister, in his conversation with Tillerson, "called for a renewal of responsible work to resolve the nuclear problem on the Korea peninsula exclusively by diplomatic means," the statement said.