NOS News•today, 9:03 PM
In the UN Security Council, Russia has blocked monitoring of sanctions against North Korea. When voting on the annual renewal of monitoring by a group of experts, Russia vetoed it.
The sanctions against North Korea remain intact, but the regulators have now lost their mandate. Of the fifteen members of the Security Council, thirteen voted in favor of the resolution. China abstained from voting. Russia is one of the five permanent members of the council and therefore has veto power.
Russia’s representative on the Security Council, Vassily Nebenzia, said before the vote that Western countries are trying to “strangle” North Korea and that the sanctions are “irrelevant and unreal.”
Weapons for Ukraine
The United States accuses North Korea and Russia of having arms deals that violate sanctions. Moscow is said to have used North Korean weapons in the war against Ukraine. North Korea and Russia deny this, but agreed last year to strengthen military ties.
The UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea have been in place since 2006 and were imposed due to the nuclear threat. The measures largely consist of strict restrictions on the import and export of all kinds of products, including weapons. An independent committee of experts must check this. The intention is for the country to stop missile programs and nuclear tests.
North Korea does not seem to care much about these measures. The Security Council has already tightened sanctions several times. Such a tightening was also voted on in 2022, but Russia and China were opposed.
