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Topline
Western leaders criticized a Russian veto at a United Nations Security Council hearing Thursday that abolished a panel of experts that monitors North Korea’s compliance with U.N. sanctions on its nuclear weapons and missiles programs—a vote that came amid allegations that North Korea is supplying Russia with weapons in its war against Ukraine.
FILE – Vassily Nebenzia, permanent representative of Russia to the United Nations, speaks during a … [+]
Key Facts
The resolution would have renewed the mandate of the panel of experts convened to monitor North Korea’s compliance with U.N. Security Council sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program—the Security Council has unanimously renewed the mandate every year for the last 14 years, U.S. officials said prior to the vote.
But Russia effectively abolished the panel with its lone Wednesday veto because all Security Council resolutions require unanimous support from the council’s five permanent members—13 of the 15 member countries approved the resolution, with China abstaining.
The sanctions remain in place, but the panel will no longer conduct its work in monitoring whether or not North Korea is adhering to them.
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya claimed that the sanctions targeting North Korea were losing their relevance and “detached from reality,” and accused the panel of releasing “biased information” about North Korea’s programs—he called for an “open and honest review” of existing sanctions, accusing the West of trying to “strangle Pyongyang.”
But U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood said that the panel has conducted “credible, fact-based, independent investigations” of North Korea’s “unlawful weapons program and sanctions evasion efforts,” and he further alleged that Russian efforts to silence the panel come after the panel began reporting last year of “Russia’s blatant violations of the U.N. Security Council Resolutions” North Korea’s “persistent sanctions evasion efforts with Russia’s jurisdiction.”
Chief Critics
Multiple world leaders condemned Russia’s vote and echoed Wood’s concerns, with White House National Security spokesman John Kirby telling the media that Russia’s veto was a “reckless action” that highlighted Russia’s growing relationship with North Korea. French Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière said on X that France “deeply regrets” Russia’s veto, claiming it “purposely” ends the panel’s work of “reporting on North Korea’s arms deliveries to Russia.” Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba claimed the veto amounted to a “guilty plea,” suggesting “Moscow no longer hides its military cooperation with North Korea.” He shared a photo, alleging it depicted a North Korean-made missile that struck the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv earlier this year.
Key Background
Wood, prior to Thursday’s vote, said that North Korea has “unabashedly” accelerated its weapons program in the last year, launching a new round of ballistic missile tests just last week. The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation claimed that, as of early February, North Korea conducted at least four missile tests in 2024, having conducted 36 tests in 2023. There has been global speculation that Russia and North Korea have been cooperating as Russia’s war against Ukraine rages on, with the U.S. reporting last year that North Korea had delivered 1,000 containers worth of military equipment to Russia.
Tangent
It’s just the latest example of tension between the United States and Russia in the U.N. Security Council. Last week, Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-penned resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, with Nebenzya calling the document “politicized” and “convenient for Washington.” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield in turn accused Russia and China of vetoing the resolution because they “simply did not want to vote for a resolution that was penned by the United States.” The U.S. later abstained from a subsequent proposal backed by Russia and China, allowing it to pass.
Further Reading
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Read More: Russia Votes To End U.N. Monitoring Of North Korea Weapons Development — Drawing Backlash
