NATIONAL NEWS

Russian veto brings end to UN panel monitoring enforcement of North Korea nuclear sanctions

Mar 28, 2024, 7:45 AM | Updated: 10:28 am

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution Thursday in a move that effectively abolishes the monitoring by United Nations experts of U.N. sanctions against North Korea aimed at reining in its nuclear program, though the sanctions themselves remain in place.

Russia’s vote sparked Western accusations that Moscow was acting to shield its weapons purchases from North Korea for use in its war against Ukraine, which violate U.N. sanctions.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have heightened with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatening nuclear conflict and escalating tests of nuclear-capable missiles designed to target South Korea, the United States and Japan. The three countries have responded by strengthening their combined military exercises and updating their deterrence plans.

The vote in the 15-member council was 13 in favor, Russia against, and China abstaining. The Security Council resolution would have extended the mandate of the panel of experts for a year, but Russia’s veto will halt its operation when its current mandate expires at the end of April.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council before the vote that Western nations are trying to “strangle” North Korea and that sanctions are losing their “relevance” and “detached from reality” in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the country.

He accused the panel of experts of “increasingly being reduced to playing into the hands of Western approaches, reprinting biased information and analyzing newspaper headlines and poor quality photos.” Therefore, he said, it is “essentially conceding its inability to come up with sober assessments of the status of the sanctions regime.”

But U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood called the panel’s work essential and accused Russia of attempting to silence its “independent objective investigations” because it “began reporting in the last year on Russia’s blatant violations of the U.N. Security Council resolutions.”

He warned that Russia’s veto will embolden North Korea to continue jeopardizing global security through development “of long-range ballistic missiles and sanctions evasion efforts.”

White House national security spokesman John Kirby condemned Russia’s veto as a “reckless action” that undermines sanctions imposed on North Korea, while warning against the deepening cooperation between North Korea and Russia, particularly as North Korea continues to supply Russia with weapons as it wages its war in Ukraine.

“The international community should resolutely uphold the global nonproliferation regime and support the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and independence against Russia’s brutal aggression,” Kirby told reporters.

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward said Russia’s veto follows arms deals between Russia and North Korea in violation of U.N. sanctions, including “the transfer of ballistic missiles, which Russia has then used in its illegal invasion of Ukraine since the early part of this year.”

“This veto does not demonstrate concern for the North Korean people or the efficacy of sanctions,” she said. “It is about Russia gaining the freedom to evade and breach sanctions in pursuit of weapons to be used against Ukraine.”

“This panel, through its word to expose sanctions non-compliance, was an inconvenience for Russia,” Woodward said.

France’s U.N. Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere added that “North Korea has been providing Russia with military material in support of its aggression against Ukraine, in violation of many resolutions which Russia voted in favor of.”

The Security Council imposed sanctions after North Korea’s first nuclear test explosion in 2006 and tightened them over the years in a total of 10 resolutions seeking — so far unsuccessfully — to cut funds and curb its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The last sanctions resolution was adopted by the council in December 2017. China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution in May 2022 that would have imposed new sanctions over a spate of intercontinental ballistic missile launches.

The Security Council established a committee to monitor sanctions and the mandate for its panel of experts to investigate violations had been renewed for 14 years until Thursday.

In its most recent report circulated last month, the panel of experts said it is investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its development of weapons of mass destruction.

The experts said North Korea continues to flout sanctions, including by further developing its nuclear weapons, and producing nuclear fissile materials — the weapons’ key ingredients. It also continues to import refined petroleum products in violation of council resolutions.

National News

FILE - Attorney Todd Blanche listens as his client former President Donald Trump speaks as he arriv...

Associated Press

Trump rewards legal defense team, picks lawyer Todd Blanche as No. 2 Justice official

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Todd Blanche, an attorney who led the legal team that defended the Republican at his hush money criminal trial, to serve as the second-highest ranking Justice Department official. A former federal prosecutor, Blanche has been a key figure on Trump’s defense team both in the New York […]

5 minutes ago

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks to the members of the media as he leaves court in N...

Associated Press

Giuliani’s lawyers after $148M defamation judgment seek to withdraw from his case

NEW YORK (AP) — Two attorneys representing Rudy Giuliani in a lawsuit related to a $148 million defamation judgment against him have asked a judge to remove them from the case over disagreements with the former New York City mayor. The request in federal court comes a week after a judge ordered Giuliani to quickly […]

22 minutes ago

FILE - Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald...

Associated Press

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long record of promoting anti-vaccine views

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was building up a following with his anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, and becoming one of the world’s most influential spreaders of fear and distrust around vaccines. Now, President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, […]

55 minutes ago

FILE - Advance Auto Parts headquarters, in Roanoke, Va., is shown, Oct. 16, 2013. (Stephanie Klein-...

Associated Press

Advance Auto Parts is closing hundreds of stores in an effort to turn its business around

NEW YORK (AP) — Advance Auto Parts is closing more than 500 stores and shedding another 200 independent locations as part of its efforts to revive its struggling business. North Carolina-based Advance Auto said Thursday that it would be reducing its U.S. footprint as part of a “strategic plan to improve business performance.” The company […]

1 hour ago

FILE - Georgia Sen. Sen. Emanuel Jones speaks in a meeting at the state Capitol, where children spo...

Associated Press

Georgia lawmaker proposes new gun safety policies after school shooting

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia state Senate Democrat wants to make it a crime for people to give children access to guns and require a 10-day waiting period for assault rifle purchases unless someone is licensed to carry weapons, two proposals highly unlikely to gain Republican support. But some of the policies Sen. Emanuel Jones […]

1 hour ago

A massive piece of debris that flew from the Givaudan Color Sense plant after an explosion is pictu...

Associated Press

Kentucky governor says investigators will determine what caused deadly Louisville factory explosion

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s governor pledged Thursday that investigators will find out what caused a deadly explosion that ripped apart a Louisville factory and left its shellshocked neighbors demanding answers. The blast at Givaudan Sense Colour on Tuesday killed two workers, injured 11 other employees and caused a partial collapse of the plant, which […]

1 hour ago

Russian veto brings end to UN panel monitoring enforcement of North Korea nuclear sanctions