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Russian Foreign Ministry comments on sanctions against North Korea

On September 11, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution toughening sanctions against North Korea
Russian foreign ministry Sergei Fadeichev/TASS
Russian foreign ministry
© Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

MOSCOW, September 12. /TASS/. Sanctions against North Korea should be aimed at having Pyongyang stop its missile and nuclear activities rather than at ruining that country’s economy, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

"We proceed from the fact that sanctions against North Korea should be geared exclusively at pushing its authorities to abandon their missile and nuclear activities that are prohibited by United Nations Security Council resolutions," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, during the discussion of the draft resolution Russia and China managed to adjust the US-initiated tough text seeking to worsen North Korea’s economic situation and fraught with catastrophic humanitarian impacts on North Korea’s population.

"As a result, it has become possible to continue the implementation of the biggest Russian-Chinese coal transit project Hassan-Rajin and to continue direct air communication between the two countries. The final resolution is not demanding sanctions against North Korea’s top leaders, the government and the Workers’ Party of Korea, neither is it imposing a complete ban on oil and oil products supplies in North Korea," the ministry said.

"Provisions concerning examination of suspicious ships at seat have been mitigated and brought in conformity with international law. The provision on forcible deportation of North Korean labor migrants has been abandoned," the ministry added.