World War 3: Russia orders US to ABANDON North Korea fight as major conflict looms

Sergey Lavrov told his US counterpart, Rex Tillerson, the escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula is unacceptable.

During a phone call with Mr Tillerson, Vladimir Putin’s right hand man discussed Syria, Korea and Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry revealed.

Mr Lavrov also told Mr Tillerson Moscow is demanding the US returns Russian diplomatic property seized in 2016 over suspected Russian interference in the general election.

The pair’s phone call came just hours after Donald Trump’s most senior general told the US Army to “stand ready” for war with North Korea.

General James ‘Mad dog’ Mattis warned it is impossible to tell what the future holds for the crisis, but urged US troops to be prepared for a confrontation with Kim Jong-un.

He said while Trump is committed to finding a diplomatic solution, the US Army must “standy ready” to fight.

General Mattis, said: “It is right now a diplomatically led, economic-sanction buttressed effort to try to turn North Korea off this path.

“Now what does the future hold? Neither you nor I can say, so there is one thing the US Army can do.

“And that is you have got to be ready to ensure that we have military options that our President can employ if needed.”

Although he added the future is unpredictable, General Mattis again said the effort to stop North Korea was diplomatically led.

This is a breaking story.

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