Russian diplomat recommends easing of UN sanctions against North Korea as US seeks action
Ambassador says Russia is ready to help modernise North Korea’s energy system if sanctions are lifted and if Pyongyang can find funding for the upgrades
The UN Security Council should think about easing sanctions on North Korea, Russia’s envoy to the country said on Wednesday, as the US pushes for a halt to refined petroleum exports to Pyongyang.
“The positive change on the Korean peninsula is now obvious,” said the ambassador, Alexander Matsegora, according to the RIA news agency, adding that Russia was ready to help modernise North Korea's energy system if sanctions were lifted and if Pyongyang can find funding for the modernisation.
The UN Security Council has unanimously toughened sanctions on North Korea since 2006 in a bid to choke off funding for Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, banning exports including coal, iron, lead, textiles and seafood, and capping imports of crude oil and refined petroleum products.
China tried late last month to get the Security Council to issue a statement praising the June 12 Singapore meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and expressing its “willingness to adjust the measures on the DPRK in light of the DPRK’s compliance with the resolutions”.
North Korea’s official name is Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
But the United States blocked the statement on June 28 given “ongoing and very sensitive talks between the United States and the DPRK at this time”, diplomats said. The same day, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, about the importance of sanctions enforcement.