(Reuters) – Moscow does not violate United Nations sanctions against North Korea, but is categorically against new restrictive measures on Pyongyang, a high-ranking Russian diplomat told the RIA state news agency in remarks published on Sunday.
“Russia, as a responsible member of the world community, strictly adheres to its international obligations towards Pyongyang through the UN Security Council,” Russian Ambassador at Large Oleg Burmistrov told RIA in an interview.
“At the same time, we are categorically against the introduction of new restrictive measures.
The White House on Friday said North Korea recently provided Russia with a shipment of weapons, calling it a troubling development and raising concerns about the expanded military relationship between the two countries.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for a rare summit last month at which they discussed military matters, the war in Ukraine and possible Russian help for the secretive state’s satellite programme.
North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs since 2006. Those measures have unanimously been strengthened over the years, but the Security Councils is now deadlocked as China and Russia push for them to be eased to convince Pyongyang to return to denuclearization talks.
Burmistrov told RIA that the risk of a nuclear conflict on the Korean Peninsula have grown sharply, partially as a result of Washington’s actions.
“The rhetoric of North Korean officials about a hypothetical ‘nuclear conflict’ clearly illustrates the sharply increased risks that are provoked by the United States by drawing strategic assets to the peninsula,” Burmistrov said.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
