Russia and China block US efforts to condemn North Korea's nuclear stance

North Korea signalled yesterday that it has no plans to back down in its confrontation with the United States over nuclear weapons.

Pyongyang's move came a day after talks at the United Nations Security Council failed to produce an agreed statement condemning North Korea for resuming its nuclear activity. Both Russia and China blocking American efforts to adopt a common statement.

Washington has denied it has any plans to strike North Korea, but state radio in Pyongyang said the fact that the issue had even been discussed at the UN amounted to "a prelude to war". North Korea insists it may be the next target and it is not therefore about to reduce its defence efforts. The state-run news agency said: "The Iraqi war launched by the US pre-emptive attack clearly proves that a war can be prevented and the security of the country and the nation can be ensured only when one has physical deterrent force." It did not refer specifically to nuclear weapons.

On a visit yesterday to South Korea, Russia's Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, warned that North Korea was stiffening its resolve in the light of the US-led assault on Iraq. He said Pyongyang would be encouraged to ignore the UN because it had been weakened by Washington's decision to invade Iraq without Security Council backing.

"I do not rule out that if any decision whatsoever is taken by the United Nations on this question it will be ignored by Pyongyang, which will refer to other precedents," Mr Ivanov said after talks with Cho Young Kil, South Korea's Defence Minister. "The turn of events, including the war in Iraq, confirmed that prognosis."

The latest exchanges came on the day that North Korea officially abandoned its obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. There was a 90-day waiting period after Pyongyang renounced the pact in January.

In a separate development, America and the European Union were expected last night formally to accuse the North Korean regime of torture and other abuses at a meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.