China and Russia veto US sponsored sanctions on North Korea at UN

New York, USA: North Korea's spate of intercontinental ballistic missile launches that can be used to deliver nuclear weapons is a cause of concern for the world and on Thursday, United States raised the issue at United Nations. But US sponsored initiative was vetoed by China and Russia that would have imposed tough new sanctions on North Korea.

 

The opposition marked a first serious division among the five veto-wielding permanent members of UN. The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13-2.

 

Sanctions were imposed on North Korea after first nuclear test explosion in 2006. A united Security Council tightened them over the years in a total of 10 resolutions. But so far the restraining orders haven't proved ineffective.

 

After the voting concluded, China and Russia stressed the need for renewed dialogue between North Korea and United States.

 

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield wasn't surprised, but disappointed. She raised the issue before the voting began and urged the council to act against the N. Korea's ICBM launches and its escalating nuclear program. North Korea has launched 23 ballistic missiles this year, including six ICBMs after a five-year suspension.

 

Linda called it “a grave threat to international peace and security,” and citing Democratic People’s Republic of Korea's continued pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, she added, “the world faces a clear and present danger from the DPRK.”

 

China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun mentioned the talks between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump in 2018-19 and blamed US for not reciprocating North Korea’s “positive initiatives” during that meeting. He said Washington should take the responsibility and resume talks with Pyongyang and find an appropriate solution to the situation on the Korean Peninsula. He said “The situation and peninsula has developed to what it is today, thanks primarily to the flip-flop of US policies and failure to uphold the results of previous dialogues.”

Zhang said, North Korea faces the harshest sanctions regime. Both Russia and China proposed to lift some sanctions to improve the dire humanitarian situation of North Koreans.

Faced with “persistent tension” on the Korean peninsula,  “China has been calling on all parties to exercise calm and restraint and to desist from actions that could increase tension and lead to miscalculations.” He said North Korea faces the harshest sanctions regime. China and Russia proposed lifting some sanctions to improve the dire humanitarian situation of North Koreans, instead of imposing new sanctions

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia stressed “the ineffectiveness and the inhumanity of further strengthening the sanctions pressure on Pyongyang,”, he also mentioned that Moscow repeatedly told US that new sanctions were “a path to a dead end.”

He further added, “The problems of security in the region, which also directly affect Russia, cannot be resolved through primitive and blunt means that have a direct impact on the population,” and continued, “Over the past year, we are seeing only a worsening of the situation on the (Korean) peninsula.”

Nebenzia said Western nations have shifted the blame to North Korean authorities while completely ignoring Pyongyang’s repeated appeals to United States to stop “its hostile activity which will open the path for dialogue.”
 

Linda, however, retorted that the Security Council’s inaction is “certainly enabling” N. Korea to escalate its weapons programs and countered that US has made “serious, sustained efforts, publicly and privately, to pursue diplomacy with the DPRK without preconditions.”

Britain’s deputy ambassador James Kariuki believes China and Russia's decision to veto the sanctions will only embolden North Korea.

 

Source: The Associated Press