China, Russia veto to tighten sanctions on North Korea

Resolution punish North Korea received the support of 13 other members of the United Nations Security Council during a meeting on May 26, AFP reported.

China and Russia have expressed support for a non-binding declaration rather than a new package of sanctions against North Korea.

China’s ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, said that a political solution should be promoted on the North Korea issue. He warned that sanctions would have humanitarian consequences for North Korea, which recently broke out of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Additional sanctions “will not only not help solve the problem, but will also lead to more negative effects and escalate confrontation,” the Chinese diplomat said.

Ambassador Russia Vassily Nebenzia noted that North Korea’s calls to stop “hostile activities” and engage in dialogue should be heeded. He said that the US and the West “do not seem to have a response to crisis situations other than introducing new sanctions”.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has repeatedly expressed its willingness to dialogue with North Korea without preconditions.

The US-drafted resolution would reduce the amount of oil North Korea can legally import annually for civilian purposes from 4 million to 3 million barrels (from 525,000 to 393,750 tons).

The latest North Korea sanctions package America The proposal would also cut refined petroleum imports from 500,000 barrels to 375,000 barrels.