Putin: North Koreans would rather "eat grass" than give up nukes

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that North Koreans would rather “eat grass” than suspend a nuclear weapons program that has led the United States to call for the toughest possible sanctions against Kim Jong Un’s isolated regime.

The Russian leader made the comments on the sidelines of an economic summit in China, where he also warned that the escalating North Korean crisis could cause a “planetary catastrophe” and “huge loss of life.”

Putin said that “ramping up military hysteria in such conditions is senseless” and called for a diplomatic solution to a standoff between Washington and Pyongyang that has brought the U.S. and North Korea to the brink of war.