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Article snippet: LONDON — World leaders expressed alarm on Friday at the bellicose language emanating from North Korea and the United States, but also some support for President Trump, as they sought to allay their citizens’ fears of a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula. “I am convinced that a verbal escalation will not contribute to a resolution of the conflict,” Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told journalists in Berlin. “I also see no military resolution to the conflict.” Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said that Moscow was “very alarmed” by talk of pre-emptive military action by the United States. “Unfortunately, the rhetoric in Washington and Pyongyang is now starting to go over the top,” Mr. Lavrov said. “We still hope and believe that common sense will prevail.” Among America’s allies, Australia was perhaps the most decisive in denouncing North Korea’s weapons program. “We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States,” Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s prime minister, said in a statement, adding that Australia and the United States were “joined at the hip.” European leaders, whose summer holidays had already been interrupted by political uncertainty, and who are usually occupied by the threat from a resurgent Russia, were focused on the Korean Peninsula. Ms. Merkel said diplomacy offered the only way out of the crisis. She did not single out Mr. Trump — with whom she has had a frosty relationship — for criticism, but she made clear that his language was... Link to the full article to read more