Russia on Thursday (28/3) blocked the renewal of a UN panel of experts monitoring international sanctions on North Korea. The move comes weeks after the agency said it was investigating reports of arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Russia's move was greeted with criticism, including by Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba. He made a statement on social media calling the veto “an admission of guilt” amid accusations that North Korea had helped Russia in its war against Ukraine.
The United States called Russia's veto a “self-serving attempt to bury the panel's report on the country's collusion” with North Korea.
“Russia's actions today have cynically undermined international peace and security, all in service of Moscow's corrupt bargaining process with North Korea,” said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Russia's veto at the UN Security Council does not eliminate sanctions against North Korea. But the move spells the end for the group of experts monitoring the implementation of the sanctions – and the alleged violations.
The mandate for the panel itself will be completed by the end of April.
North Korea has been under increasing sanctions since 2006 imposed by the UN Security Council in response to its nuclear program.
Since 2019, Russia and China have tried to influence the Security Council to relax the sanctions, which have no end in sight.
The Security Council has long been divided on the issue, with China's deputy ambassador Geng Shuang arguing on Thursday that the sanctions “have exacerbated tensions and confrontation with serious negative impacts on the humanitarian situation.”
China this time chose to abstain, and did not join Russia in the veto.
Russia's UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said that without a guaranteed annual review to assess and potentially modify the sanctions, the expert panel had no legal basis.
“The panel continues to focus on things that are disproportionate to the problems facing the Korean peninsula,” Nebenzia said.
“Russia asks the Security Council to adopt a decision to hold an open and honest review of the sanctions imposed by the Security Council, annually,” he added.
Additional Security Council sanctions were imposed on North Korea in 2016 and 2017. However, nuclear and weapons development by North Korea, which was already sanctioned, continued.
In the panel's most recent report, issued in early March, the sanctions panel reported that North Korea “continuously flouted” sanctions, including by launching ballistic missiles and violating oil import limits.
The panel also added that it was investigating reports of arms transfers from North Korea to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine. (ns/ka)