The announcement comes weeks after the group said it was investigating reports of arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Russia has been criticized for this move. South Korea’s foreign ministry said Moscow made an “irresponsible decision,” while the United States called Russia’s veto a “selfish effort to suppress the group’s reports of its own secret agreement” with North Korea. At the time, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on social networks that Russia’s veto was an “admission of guilt” because of reports that Pyongyang was helping Moscow in its war against Kyiv.
Moscow’s decision to exercise its veto power in the Security Council does not mean that the sanctions on North Korea will be lifted, but the work of the group that monitors their implementation and a number of alleged violations will stop. The current mandate of this group will expire at the end of April.
North Korea has been under UN Security Council sanctions since 2006 due to its nuclear program. Since 2019, Russia and China have tried to persuade the Council to relax them. The Security Council has been divided over the issue for some time, with China’s deputy ambassador Geng Shuang arguing on Thursday that the sanctions had “increased tensions and confrontation”.
Instead of joining Russia’s veto, China abstained. All other members voted to renew the mandate of the expert group.
