Russia: The UN Security Council should change its approach towards North Korea

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said this Friday that the recently vetoed resolution in the UN Security Council, which called for the extension of sanctions against North Korea, emphasizes the ineffectiveness of these measures. And it expresses a request to the council to renew its approach towards the peninsula.

Zakharova said: It is clear to us that the Council can no longer act on the basis of old patterns regarding the problems of the Korean Peninsula. Over the years, international restrictive measures have not helped to improve the security situation in the region.

He added that the sanctions have a “severe humanitarian impact on the civilian population” in North Korea, and that the escalation of conflicts in the region is “due to the increasingly aggressive military activities of the United States and its allies.” The Associated Press reported yesterday that Russia vetoed The resolution of the United Nations Security Council effectively canceled the monitoring of the international sanctions against North Korea by a panel of experts of this institution. The resolution that was proposed to the Security Council with the support of the United States would have extended the mission of this delegation for another year, but Russia’s veto stopped this operation. Among the 15 members of the Security Council, 13 members voted in favor of this resolution. Russia vetoed it and China abstained from voting.
Vasily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, told the members of the Security Council before this vote that the Western countries are trying to suppress North Korea and the sanctions are under the pretext of containment. This country’s nuclear program is “irrelevant” and “far from reality”.
This resolution did not change the sanctions against North Korea.
Reuters reported in the same context: Russia on Thursday extended the annual mission of the delegation. Experts vetoed the implementation of long-term UN sanctions against North Korea due to its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.