Vladimir Putin warns world faces 'global catastrophe' over North Korea

Vladimir Putin warns world faces 'global catastrophe' over North Korea

By James Masters, CNN

Updated 1151 GMT (1951 HKT) September 5, 2017

In this undated image distributed on Sunday, September 3, 2017, by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at an undisclosed location.

China's President Xi Jinping waits to greet foreign affairs officials from the BRICS countries at the Great Hall of the People's Fujian Room in Beijing on June 19, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Nicolas ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

China 'strongly condemns' N. Korea's test
North Korea's regime has "succeeded in making a more developed nuke," according to state news agency KCNA. During a visit to the country's Nuclear Weapons Institute "he watched an H-bomb to be loaded into new ICBM," KCNA added.

Expert: I would bet N. Korea tested H-bomb
N. Korea: Hydrogen bomb test successful
In this undated image distributed on Sunday, September 3, 2017, by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at an undisclosed location.

Trump responds to North Korea bomb test
Japan's Response to North Korea Tremor_00010129.jpg
Japan says N. Korea tremor was a nuclear test
USGS: 6.3-magnitude 'explosion' in N. Korea
Sirens blare over Japan after missile launch
How much damage can North Korea's weapons do?

In this undated image distributed on Sunday, September 3, 2017, by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at an undisclosed location.

The weapon that makes N. Korea more dangerous
Vladimir Putin on Trump US politics _00003422.jpg
Putin warns against tighter N. Korea sanctions
Haley: Kim Jong Un is begging for war

Trump on attacking North Korea: 'We'll see'
In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, South Korea's Hyunmoo II ballistic missile is fired during an exercise at an undisclosed location in South Korea, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017.
S. Korea runs simulated strike on nuclear site

In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, South Korea's Hyunmoo II ballistic missile is fired during an exercise at an undisclosed location in South Korea, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017. In South Korea, the nation's military said it conducted a live-fire exercise simulating an attack on North Korea's nuclear test site to "strongly warn" Pyongyang over the latest nuclear test. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the drill involved F-15 fighter jets and the country's land-based "Hyunmoo" ballistic missiles. The released live weapons "accurately struck" a target in the sea off the country's eastern coast, the JCS said. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)
N. Korea responds to S. Korea's missile drill
Mattis: Not looking to annihilate North Korea
A paramilitary guard stands at the gate of the Forbidden City ahead of the upcoming opening sessions of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on March 1, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Fred DUFOUR (Photo credit should read FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images)
Military players in North Asia
China's President Xi Jinping waits to greet foreign affairs officials from the BRICS countries at the Great Hall of the People's Fujian Room in Beijing on June 19, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Nicolas ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)
China 'strongly condemns' N. Korea's test
North Korea's regime has "succeeded in making a more developed nuke," according to state news agency KCNA. During a visit to the country's Nuclear Weapons Institute "he watched an H-bomb to be loaded into new ICBM," KCNA added.
Expert: I would bet N. Korea tested H-bomb
N. Korea: Hydrogen bomb test successful
In this undated image distributed on Sunday, September 3, 2017, by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at an undisclosed location.
Trump responds to North Korea bomb test
Japan's Response to North Korea Tremor_00010129.jpg
Japan says N. Korea tremor was a nuclear test
USGS: 6.3-magnitude 'explosion' in N. Korea
Sirens blare over Japan after missile launch
How much damage can North Korea's weapons do?
In this undated image distributed on Sunday, September 3, 2017, by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at an undisclosed location.
The weapon that makes N. Korea more dangerous
Vladimir Putin on Trump US politics _00003422.jpg
Putin warns against tighter N. Korea sanctions
Haley: Kim Jong Un is begging for war
Trump on attacking North Korea: 'We'll see'
In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, South Korea's Hyunmoo II ballistic missile is fired during an exercise at an undisclosed location in South Korea, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017.
S. Korea runs simulated strike on nuclear site
In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, South Korea's Hyunmoo II ballistic missile is fired during an exercise at an undisclosed location in South Korea, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017. In South Korea, the nation's military said it conducted a live-fire exercise simulating an attack on North Korea's nuclear test site to "strongly warn" Pyongyang over the latest nuclear test. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the drill involved F-15 fighter jets and the country's land-based "Hyunmoo" ballistic missiles. The released live weapons "accurately struck" a target in the sea off the country's eastern coast, the JCS said. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)
N. Korea responds to S. Korea's missile drill
Mattis: Not looking to annihilate North Korea
A paramilitary guard stands at the gate of the Forbidden City ahead of the upcoming opening sessions of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on March 1, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Fred DUFOUR (Photo credit should read FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images)
Military players in North Asia
Story highlights

Putin urges against "military hysteria" in solving the crisis on the Korean peninsula
"Russia condemns this action from North Korea," Putin says

(CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the escalating crisis over North Korea's weapons program risks developing into a "global catastrophe" with mass casualties.
But Putin, speaking in China on Tuesday, cautioned against "military hysteria" and said that the only way to resolve the crisis was through diplomacy.

He warned that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has calculated that the survival of his regime depends on its development of nuclear weapons. Kim had seen how western intervention in Iraq had ended in the overthrow of Saddam Hussein after which the country was ravaged by war, Putin warned, and Kim was determined not to suffer the same fate.
"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.
Haley: Kim Jong Un is begging for war

Haley: Kim Jong Un is begging for war 01:21
"The country was demolished and Saddam Hussein was hanged. Everyone knows that and everyone in North Korea knows that."
On Monday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Kim was "begging for war" and urged the UN Security Council to adopt the strongest sanctions measures possible to stop Pyongyang's nuclear program.
But speaking at the closure of the BRICs summit in Beijing -- which hosted the leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Africa -- Putin said that while Russia condemned North Korea's latest actions, imposing any kind of sanctions would be "useless and ineffective." Kim would rather starve his people than see his regime overthrown, he said.
Why North Korea wants nukes and missiles

North Korea has long maintained it wants nuclear weapons and long-range missiles in order to deter the United States from attempting to overthrow the regime of Kim Jong Un.

Pyongyang looks at states like Iraq -- where former dictator Saddam Hussein was overthrown by the United States, and Libya -- the country's late leader, Moammar Gaddafi, gave up his nuclear ambitions for sanctions relief and aid, only to be toppled and killed after the US intervened in the country's civil unrest -- and believes that only being able to threaten the US homeland with a retaliatory nuclear strike can stop American military intervention.

Many experts believe North Korea would not use the weapons first. Kim Jong Un values his regime's survival above all else and knows the use of a nuclear weapon would start a war he could not win, analysts say.
"They will eat grass but they will not turn away from the path that will provide for their security," he said.
The latest escalation of the crisis came on Sunday when Pyongyang announced it had conducted a sixth nuclear test, which it claimed was of a hydrogen bomb. The claim has not been independently verified, but seismological data indicated that the weapon was the most powerful ever to be detonated by Pyongyang.
North Korea claims it now has the capability of mounting a thermonuclear weapon on a long-range missile capable of striking the United States.
Weapons experts say it's almost impossible to verify if the warhead and missile could be successfully paired unless North Korea were to fire a nuclear-tipped ICBM.
North Korea has test-fired a number of missiles this summer, including two long-range ones in July and an intermediate-range one in August that overflew the Japanese island of Hokkaido. South Korea has claimed that the North is making preparations for another ICBM test.
IAEA chief: North Korea now a global threat

IAEA chief: North Korea now a global threat 02:57
Putin said it was clear that Pyongyang already had a nuclear capability -- and in any case, no missile defense system could offer adequate protection against conventional long-range artillery.
"We know that North Korea has nukes, we also know that North Korea has long-range artillery and it has other types of weapons and there are no weapons against long-range artillery -- and these weapons can be difficult to locate.
"So we think that this military hysteria will not lead to good results. It could lead to global catastrophe with lots of victims."
In response to the latest tests, the South Korean Navy announced Tuesday it conducted live-fire drills off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula to check its "immediate operational readiness" after the country's air force and army conducted their own joint drills. It had already mounted a huge show of military force on Monday.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in spoke with US President Donald Trump on Monday and agreed to lift current restrictions on the payload weight of South Korea's ballistic missiles, according to a South Korean presidential spokesman.

CNN's Taehoon Lee, Josh Berlinger and Sarah Faidell contributed to this article.