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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lays out Kremlin's view

UNITED NATIONS -- Russia is looking to work with the U.S. on some of the dangerous issues in world affairs, Russian President Vladimir Putin's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

"We have to calm down the hotheads," he said, offering the Kremlin's view of North Korea, Iran, the Middle East, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela and the Facebook-Russia ads controversy.

Here's a look at what Lavrov said on a range of hot-button issues.

North Korea

Lavrov said the war of words between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un should end, but added that it is "unacceptable to simply sit back and to look at the nuclear and military gambles of North Korea." 

"It is also unacceptable to start the war on the peninsula," Lavrov said.

That echoed what  NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told CBS News this week.

In UN debut, Trump talks tough on North Korea 02:25

"There's no easy way out, no easy answer," Stoltenberg said, adding that the international community needs to "find something in between doing nothing" and using military force.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also warned "fiery talk can lead to fatal misunderstandings."

Russia's envoy gave his view, saying that diplomats should pursue a peaceful solution. He again proposed a plan that both China and Russia have been endorsing. Known as "freeze for freeze," the proposal that would have the U.S. and South Korea tamp down their joint military exercises in exchange for North Korea halting its nuclear and missile testing. He said that proposal is "not yet exhausted."

North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho suggested that North Korea might test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean.

Iran nuclear deal

This week, Federica Mogherini, the European Union foreign policy chief, said that all parties to the Iran nuclear deal agree that the accord is being implemented as planned and U.S. complaints about other Iranian behavior should be discussed outside the context of the agreement.

Her comments followed a meeting at the United Nations that was also attended by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley was also at the meeting and both she and Tillerson made the point that there are differences with how the U.S. interprets the agreement.

Trump criticized the agreement as "deeply flawed" in his U.N. address and the pressure is on, since he must decide by October 15 if the U.S. will certify to Congress that Iran is complying with the agreement. On Wednesday, Trump told reporters at the United Nations General Assembly in New York that he has "decided" on what he will do about the Iran nuclear deal, although he isn't saying yet what that decision is.

How scrapping the Iran Nuclear Deal could hurt negotiations with North Korea 04:59

On Friday, Lavov answered a question posed by CBS News on the Trump proposal to renegotiation the Iran nuclear deal. "Not only Russia said it is necessary to save this program, meaning the JCPOA. That was mentioned by all European countries who participated in negotiations, same said by majority of U.N. countries," he said.

"This program is already finalized, it is endorsed by a U.N. Security Council resolution. Opening up this plan for negotiations is basically would be disregarding this agreement," he added.

This week, France's President Emmanuel Macron delivered a plea to preserve the agreement but also said the agreement is not enough, suggesting its provisions could be strengthened.

Lavrov said that to renegotiate other issues Iran, including its ballistic missile tests, the "sunset clauses" of the agreement, and human rights, would be "bringing together apples and oranges and would be wrong."

Facebook

This week, Facebook offered to give congressional investigators material about political ads linked to Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election. Lavrov said he asked the U.S. for the evidence and received nothing because of security concerns. 

"There is a whole campaign about the legitimacy of President Trump's election, saying that Russia ensured this election by meddling in U.S. affairs and the election campaign, but we do not see any facts," Lavrov said.

U.S.-Russia relations

Russia's top diplomat reserved his strongest critique for the Obama administration. He said that President Obama had soured U.S.-Russia relations to lows not seen since the Cold War.

"Russo-American relations aren't suffering from the fact there are conflicts but because the previous administration acted in a small-minded and vindictive manner, putting this time bomb under Russian-U.S. ties."

Regardless of his critiques, Lavrov said, earlier this week, that he saw positive signs in Mr. Trump's General Assembly address. In an Associated Press interview he suggested that Putin meet with Mr. Trump in November at the upcoming Asian-Pacific summit to be held in Vietnam. 

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