Russia vetoes and blocks the renewal of the mandate of a panel of UN experts overseeing international sanctions against North Korea.

Russia has probably put an end to the monitoring of the UN sanctions against North Korea.

Friday 29 March at 13:38

– It is in our interest, says Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov according to RIA after Russia on Thursday blocked the renewal of the mandate of a panel of UN experts monitoring the sanctions against Kim Jong-un’s North Korea.

– The US can no longer use old-fashioned methods, says Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, according to RIA.

Russia’s veto in the UN Security Council does not mean that the sanctions are removed, but the control over them is lost – and the sanctions can therefore be circumvented more easily.

– The responsibility for that lies with the West. The US and its allies only want to strangle North Korea, says Zakharova.

The US and other countries have accused North Korea of ​​supplying Russia with ammunition and weapons for use in the Ukraine war. Neither Russia nor North Korea have confirmed this.

After the vote on Thursday, the US condemned Russia’s veto and accused them of trying to hide their military cooperation with North Korea.

– Russia has today shown that it cynically undermines international peace and security – to promote the corrupt agreement that Russia has entered into with North Korea, says Matthew Miller, spokesman for the US Foreign Ministry, according to Reuters.

Diplomats tell Reuters that it is unlikely that any new attempt will be made to renew the mandate before it expires on April 30, 2024.

Russia’s veto underscores increasingly strong ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, diplomats tell Reuters.

– A turning point in the sanctions against North Korea, says former member of the UN panel, Aaron Arnold, to Reuters.

– Russia’s vote, together with the obvious violation of sanctions by buying weapons from North Korea, gives a clue that the future is bleak for sanctions against North Korea, he says.

Russia’s UN ambassador Vassilij Nebenzja claimed in the debate that the inspectors’ reports on the sanctions have been “biased information” and “newspaper headlines” and influenced by the West.

Reuters writes that “even the expert panel’s supporters acknowledge that their work was limited, but blamed it on Chinese and Russian members who blocked or confused unfavorable findings.”

– Russia’s veto indicates that Putin will strengthen cooperation with North Korea in terms of missiles and thus break the sanctions, says Hugh Griffiths, former head of the panel, to Reuters.