China, Russia must help resolve North Korea crisis, says Canada PM Justin Trudeau

OTTAWA: China and Russia -- despite not being invited to a conference in Canada on the North Korea crisis -- must help defuse tensions on the Korean peninsula, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday.

Canada and the United States are co-hosting foreign ministers from more than a dozen countries in Vancouver on January 15-17 with the goal of strengthening diplomatic efforts toward denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.

Trudeau said Canada "looks forward" to engaging with international partners at the summit.

"At the same time," he added, "we will continue the ongoing dialogue with all partners, including countries like Russia and China who absolutely will play an important role in moving towards peace on the Korean peninsula."

The so-called Vancouver Group is formed by the countries that fought in the 1950-53 Korean War. They include South Korea, Britain, the Philippines and Australia.

"We all know that the international community is playing an extremely important role in defusing, de-escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula," Trudeau said.

"Continued dialogue and many different venues is going to be the path forward," he added.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said when the summit was announced in December that the meeting would seek to increase pressure on North Korea to negotiate an end to its nuclear program.