China’s Xinhua News Agency says that both China and Russia are urging North and South Korea to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula through direct dialogue.

According to Xinhua, visiting Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin issued a joint statement on the current situation on the Korean Peninsula following a bilateral meeting on Tuesday in Moscow.

They said in the statement that rising tensions on the peninsula are not in the interest of any country including Russia, China, the U.S. or Japan.

The two senior officials said that escalating tensions could trigger a war on the peninsula, and that North and South Korea are the most susceptible if the worst scenario becomes a reality.

China and Russia pledged efforts to have the two Koreas resume direct dialogue as early as possible while appealing to all concerned countries to help bring peace and stability to the Korean Peninsula.

They called for a swift reopening of the six-way nuclear talks, which they called the most realistic and effective method to settle issues between the two Koreas.