Russia Urges Easing of UN Sanctions on North Korea, Hints at Stronger Cooperation

[Financial News] Russia, which has maintained close ties with North Korea since 2024 over the deployment of troops to Ukraine, called for easing sanctions against North Korea at the UN. It also described North Korea as a "close neighbor" and signaled plans to deepen cooperation.
Vassily Alekseyevich Nebenzya, Russia's ambassador to the UN, made the remarks on April 30 local time at a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in North Korea, held at UN Headquarters in New York City. Nebenzya criticized the meeting itself as "a clear example of the misuse and abuse of UNSC resolutions." He argued that North Korea's violations of UNSC sanctions were "unrelated to maintaining international peace and security." He also said the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), launched after the term of the Panel of Experts under the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006) ended, had "no legitimate international authority" and that its "outputs are nothing more than manipulation and disinformation."
At the meeting, Nebenzya said that "relaxing UNSC sanctions decisions on humanitarian grounds, as a first step, will create a favorable atmosphere for finding a diplomatic solution that takes into account the legitimate interests of all countries in the region, including North Korea." He added that "we must honestly acknowledge the reality that there is no alternative to the negotiation process."
He stressed that tensions on the Korean Peninsula had escalated because NATO member states were expanding their influence in Asia and the Pacific. He also cited the recent large-scale ROK-U.S. combined air exercise, Freedom Flag, as well as Japan's moves toward rearmament. Nebenzya argued that "the North Korean leadership had no choice but to make decisions to protect its own security in the face of such hostile circumstances."
Nebenzya said that "North Korea is our close neighbor and partner, and we have built relations in all areas." Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang in June 2024 and signed the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, after which North Korea sent a large number of troops to the Russo-Ukrainian war. Nebenzya emphasized that "military and other forms of cooperation with North Korea are not aimed at any third country and do not pose any threat to any state, region, or the international community." He added that "Russia will continue to develop this cooperation at the state level." He also argued that North Korea's participation in the war in Ukraine "does not violate international obligations."

pjw@fnnews.com Park Jong-won Reporter