US says China, Russia have leverage to stop N Korea nuclear test

The United States believes China and Russia have leverage they can use to persuade North Korea not to resume nuclear bomb testing, according to a senior US administration official.

The official, who spoke to the Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, said that while the US had been saying since May that North Korea was preparing to resume nuclear testing for the first time since 2017, it was not clear when it might conduct such a test.

 South Korea has also been warning of a seventh nuclear test for months, while the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog said last week that Pyongyang had been readying for a test.