North Korea Thanks Russia for Vetoing UN Sanctions Monitoring

Kim Song said on Thursday Pyongyang "highly appreciates the Russian Federation's veto," which blocked the renewal of an expert sanctions panel, "as an independent exercise of the right to international justice and impartiality."

Russia in late March vetoed a vote extending the mandate of the committee responsible for sanctions monitoring.

The Russian move follows accusations from the US and other Western countries that Pyongyang is supplying Moscow with weapons to use in the war in Ukraine.

During a debate at the General Assembly, following the veto, Song attacked what he called "the heinous hostile policy of the US to trample underfoot [North Korea's] sovereignty [and] right to development and existence."

North Korea has been under mounting sanctions since 2006, put in place by the UN Security Council in response to the country's nuclear program.

Since 2019, Russia and China have tried to persuade the Security Council to ease the sanctions, which have no expiration date.