Dispute over tougher sanctions on North Korea deepens

Imposing tougher sanctions on North Korea over its missile programme would be "useless and ineffective" Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, even as the US called for the "toughest sanctions possible".

Speaking on the sidelines of an emerging markets summit in Xiamen, China, Putin claimed that "they'll eat grass, but they won't abandon their programme unless they feel secure," Interfax reported.

He also reportedly urged for security guarantees be extended to Pyongyang instead, adding that pumping up "military hysteria" was "senseless and a dead-end".

Indeed, given the regime now had nuclear weapons, a confrontation could lead to a "global catastrophe and a huge number of casualties", Putin said, according to Interfax.

Echoing a quip from Beijing, Putin added it was absurd for the US to equate Russia with North Korea but to then seek its support for imposing sanctions.

"It's ridiculous to put us on the same list [of sanctions] as North Korea and then ask for our help in imposing sanctions on North Korea."

As for Beijing's position, following meetings with her Chinese counterpart, South Korea's head of foreign relations said she believed Beijing might be open to further sanctions.

According to Reuters, Putin also expressed Russia's preparedness to discuss some "details" around the issue of more sanctions.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday the BBC reported China's UN envoy Liu Jieyi as having said that, "China will never allow chaos and war on the peninsula."

Overnight, the US and South Korea reportedly agreed to throw out a limit on the weight of Seoul's warheads, which were currently restricted at 500kg (1000lb).

At least one analyst also speculated with the possibility that Washingtong might place sanctions on Chinese lenders who had dealings with Pyongyang.

Washington was joined in its calls for further sanctions on North Korea by the leaders of Japan, South Korea and Germany.

On Monday, America's ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said the Trump White House was looking for the strongest possible sanctions to be brought against the North Korean dictatorship, saying its leader, Kim Jong Un, was "begging for war".

For his part, on Tuesday morning the ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the UN in Geneva, Han Tae-song threatened the US with "more gift packages" if it continued to put pressure on the regime.

In further developments, South Korea's Asia Business Daily reported that North Korea had been observed moving a rocket that appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile towards the country's west coast.