Russian MPs think it possible to raise issue of easing anti-North Korean sanctions at UN

PYONGYANG, April 14. /TASS/. Russian lawmakers think it possible to raise the issue of easing the sanctions against North Korea at the United Nations Security Council, a senior Russian lawmaker said on Sunday.

"The third plenum of the Central Committee of the Worker’s Party of Korea last year passed a decision to shut down the missile range and stop nuclear tests. It demonstrates that the steps that are being taken by the North Korean leadership make it possible to begin a dialogue about relaxation of sanctions, at least in the humanitarian sphere to ensure supplies of medicines, food and agricultural products," Sergei Neverov, a deputy speaker of the Russian State Duma lower parliament house, who leads a Russian parliamentary delegation visiting Pyongyang, told TASS.

"We believe that dialogue about the sanctions against North Korea should be maintained within the United Nations Security Council and we will raise this matter," he said.

He said this issue had been discussed during the delegation’s meetings in Pyongyang.

North Korea is not going to use its nuclear arsenal for aggressive purposes, lawmaker supposes.

"North Korea today is not positioning itself as a country wanting to use nuclear weapons for aggression," said Neverov.

"North Korea’s leadership says that the country’s nuclear forces are rather deterrent forces than first-strike forces," he stressed.

According to the Russian lawmaker, the actions taken by the North Korean leadership demonstrate that the country plans to continue to implement the resolutions of the 2018 third plenum of the Central Committee of the Worker’s Party of Korea on the closure of the missile range and cessation of nuclear tests. "The steps that are being taken by the North Korean leadership make it possible to maintain a dialogue about relaxation of sanctions at the United Nations Security Council," he stressed.

The Russian delegation arrived in Pyongyang at an official invitation to mark 70th anniversary of economic and cultural cooperation agreement signed by the Soviet Union and North Korea.