UNITED NATIONS, December 22. /TASS/. Russia has expressed disproval of the way the wording of the US-initiated draft resolution toughening sanctions against North Korea was agreed at the United Nations Security Council. Wordings in the document were changed a minute before the voting to take into account Russia’s point of view and thus enlist its support, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vladimir Safronkov said on Friday.

Despite the established procedure, such resolutions are agreed "in conditions of artificial time pressure and wordings are changed a minute before voting," he said. "The resolution was passed only as a result of reckoning with our concerns, regrettably, in a last-minute move after grueling efforts."

Thus, according to the Russian diplomat, the terms for expulsion of North Korean workers from countries were changed from 12 to 24 months "at the very last moment." "It is a minimum acceptable for us period needed to settle logistics aspects of the problem," he stressed.

At the same time, he expressed regret that Moscow’s call on all parties concerned to take efforts to "prevent further escalation of tension, to review the policy of reciprocal pressure and intimidation" had been ignored.

On Friday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution toughening sanctions against North Korea following its ballistic missile test on November 29. The document further restricts supplies of crude oil and oil products and insists all countries expel North Korean labor migrant in a span of 24 months. The resolution envisages other restrictions that concern exports industrial equipment, heavy machinery and transport vehicles to North Korea and imports of North Korean commodity.

The Russian diplomat however noted that the sanctions "are not applicable to the work of diplomatic mission in North Korea" and to the Khasan-Rajin joint Russian-North Korean railway project. Apart from that, "the restrictions do not cover the Korean airline and supplies of corresponding spare part," Safronkov added.