White House: Russia violates UN limits on North Korea petroleum shipments
The United Nations Security Council has set limitations on the amount of refined petroleum that Russia may provide to North Korea. The White House said on Thursday that it will apply further penalties to people who help facilitate these shipments.In an attempt to halt Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, the UN has been imposing a 500,000 barrel worldwide restriction on refined petroleum products to North Korea every year for the past few years.
White House allegations
According to John Kirby, the spokesperson for national security at the White House, Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to North Korea in March alone. Russian commercial ports are close to North Korean ports, so Russia might continue these supplies indefinitely, he claimed. The revelation was made the day following the dissolution of a UN panel of experts tasked with overseeing the application of sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear weapons and missile programs. One of the Security Council’s five permanent members, Russia, had obstructed the panel’s renewal. Declassified and made available to the public by the Biden administration is intelligence indicating Russia’s growing reliance on Iran and North Korea for armaments in the war in Ukraine.
Implications of violations
Referring to the permanent five members of the Security Council, Kirby stated, “Russia’s actions are unprecedented for a member of the P5 to break a long-standing, consistent effort by the United Nations Security Council to support denuclearization and nonproliferation efforts.” “The United States will persist in enforcing sanctions against all individuals striving to enable the transfer of armaments and refined petroleum” between North Korea and Russia. The White House claimed earlier this year that ballistic missiles deployed in Ukraine had been transferred to Russia by North Korea. In October, the White House announced that North Korea had sent over a thousand containers filled with armaments and military hardware to Russia.
Response from russia
According to US intelligence sources, North Korea wants to get aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile manufacturing facilities, and other cutting-edge technology from Russia in exchange for its arms support. Moscow’s rising resentment of the United States and its Western allies since the beginning of the war in Ukraine is reflected in Russia’s reversal on the UN monitoring.
Even on topics where there has historically been unanimity, the friction has made it challenging to come to a consensus. Kirby stated that about the anticipated follow-up penalties on the petroleum shipments, the United States will collaborate with Australia, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Britain.
International reaction
As Moscow tries to resupply for its conflict with Ukraine, US intelligence authorities have concluded that Russia has obtained ballistic missiles from North Korea and is looking to purchase close-range ballistic missiles from Iran, the White House said on Thursday. According to recently declassified data, North Korea has given Russia many ballistic missiles and ballistic missile launchers, according to National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby. According to him, on December 30, at least one of those ballistic missiles was shot into Ukraine by Russian forces and fell in an open field in the Zaporizhzhya region.
As part of an overnight strike, Russia launched several ballistic missiles into North Korea on Tuesday. According to him, the United States was evaluating the effects. The missiles can go around 550 miles (885 kilometers) at a time. Since North Korea was founded in 1948, Russia and North Korea have maintained diplomatic ties. The nation’s first ruler was Kim Il Sung, a youthful and aspirational nationalist who was the late grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un, and was installed by Soviet authorities. Long before the Soviet Union broke up in the early 1990s, Soviet assistance supplies were essential to keeping North Korea’s economy solvent.
Challenges in sanctions enforcement
According to US intelligence sources, North Korea wants to get aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile manufacturing facilities, and other cutting-edge technology from Russia in exchange for its arms support. While the U.S. “is concerned that Russia’s negotiations to acquire close range ballistic missiles from Iran are actively advancing,” Kirby stated that no agreement had been reached between Russia and Iran.
South Korea’s view that North Korea has stepped up its collaboration with Moscow is validated by the US intelligence finding. The military of South Korea stated in November that it believed North Korea had transported rifles, rocket launchers, mortars, shells, and an undetermined quantity of anti-tank, portable anti-air, and short-range ballistic missiles to Russia. The Biden administration has released intelligence data that it claims demonstrate the Kremlin’s increased reliance on Iran and North Korea for the weapons it needs to wage its war on Ukraine. This is a point that the administration has made frequently.
