Russia vetoes UN plans to restrict North Korea's nuclear, ballistic missiles program

North Korea has for many years been subject to a complex network of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile weapons programs. The expert team of the United Nations keeps a close watch to ensure that these restrictions are not violated. However, North Korea's friend Russia (Russia-North Korea Relation) has blocked most of these restrictions with a veto. Russia has not lifted the sanctions on North Korea, but has definitely ended the United Nations monitoring. This can be called a big victory for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un over the United Nations.

Through this resolution of the Security Council sponsored by America, Russia was to extend the tenure of a committee of UN experts for one year, but due to Russia's veto its operation will now stop. Russia vetoed a UN resolution on Thursday, rendering monitoring of sanctions against North Korea by UN experts ineffective. In the 15-member council, 13 votes were cast in favor of the resolution, while Russia voted against it. While China remained absent in the voting. America, Britain, France, Russia and China are the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. They have got veto power.

In 2009, North Korea tested its second nuclear weapon. After this the United Nations had imposed strict sanctions on it. A panel of experts was also formed with the support of Russia and China to monitor and report any sanctions-violating activities.

This expert panel ends every year at the end of April. This year, Russia has stopped its renewable process with one vote. A few weeks ago, the expert panel in this matter had said that it was investigating the report of arms transaction between Russia and North Korea. Many international reports have claimed that North Korea has sent a large quantity of weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, South Korea and America.

South Korea's UN Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook said, "Russia's veto is like damaging CCTV cameras to avoid being caught red-handed committing a crime."

Russia and North Korea have come very close in recent years. Amidst the ongoing war with Ukraine, Russia's relations with North Korea have deepened. Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told news agency 'AFP', "Russia has protested against sanctions against its own country through North Korea."

China has long been North Korea's most important ally. But instead of joining Russia in the veto, China abstained from voting. "A political solution is the only way out," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said. He said, "The current situation on the (Korean) Peninsula remains tense. In such a situation, blindly imposing sanctions cannot solve the problem. A solution should be found for this through political means."

China has supported easing of sanctions on North Korea several times before. Before voting, China had also supported Russia's proposals.

Experts say that sanctions on North Korea are becoming increasingly ineffective. Russia and China are mainly responsible for this. As global rivalry increased around 2019, Russia and China started lobbying for relief from sanctions at the United Nations.

"At that time, Russia used North Korea to oppose NATO's eastward expansion in Europe and US military consolidation in the Western Pacific," said Hong of the Korea Institute for National Unification.

Former US President Donald Trump had a historic meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Many meetings were held between the two, but these meetings yielded no results. "The only significance of Russia's veto was that it finally made clear Russia and China's real position on the panel and the broader sanctions regime," said Eric Penton-Voak, who co-ordinated the expert panel until last year. "The only surprise to people who follow this issue is that it hasn't happened before," Eric Penton-Voak said.