Russia Will Not Allow Restoration of Mechanism for Reprimanding North Korea - Envoy to UN
UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - Russia will not allow the restoration of a mechanism for imposing restrictions against North Korea in the UN Security Council, similar to the group of experts of the sanctions committee, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told Sputnik.
On March 28, Russia blocked a US draft resolution in the UN Security Council to extend for one year the work of the UNSC's Committee 1718 on sanctions against North Korea. Its mandate expired on April 30. On May 1, 50 UN members, including the US, Japan, and South Korea, said in a joint statement they were considering alternatives to ensure continued "objective and independent" monitoring of sanctions on North Korea after the expert panel's dissolution.
"Today, if our Western colleagues want to restore the same or a similar mechanism for reprimanding Pyongyang in the Council, we will not allow this. And outside the Council, any attempts to follow this path are doomed to failure, since a corresponding mandate from the Security Council is needed to consider sanctions restrictions," Nebenzia said.
The termination of the mandate caused an outrage among Western members of the UN Security Council because they used this mechanism "to denigrate the leadership of North Korea," stated Nebenzia.
