UN Council to Vote Thursday on Tougher N.Korea Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: Members of the United Nations Security Council gather during a meeting about the situation in Venezuela, in New York, US, February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
FILE PHOTO: Members of the United Nations Security Council gather during a meeting about the situation in Venezuela, in New York, US, February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
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UN Council to Vote Thursday on Tougher N.Korea Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: Members of the United Nations Security Council gather during a meeting about the situation in Venezuela, in New York, US, February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
FILE PHOTO: Members of the United Nations Security Council gather during a meeting about the situation in Venezuela, in New York, US, February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

The United Nations Security Council will vote Thursday, at the request of the United States, on a resolution aimed at toughening sanctions on North Korea after it fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, diplomats said Wednesday.

The United States, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency for May, has scheduled the vote for the late afternoon, two diplomats told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Earlier, a senior US official said the resolution would notably look at curbing oil imports, although diplomats say Russia and China could exercise their veto power.

The official noted that Security Council Resolution 2397, adopted unanimously in 2017, called for further consequences in the event of another ICBM launch.

"That was a provision of that resolution. That's precisely what happened and so we feel it's now time to take action," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official declined to comment on whether Russia and China would veto the text but said, "We think that this resolution will have strong support because this is an issue that's of profound importance to us, obviously, (and) of profound importance to our allies Japan and South Korea."

According to a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity, Beijing could be willing to adopt new sanctions in the event of nuclear testing, but not over missile launches.

A spokesperson for the Chinese mission meanwhile told AFP that "We don't think a resolution as proposed by the US can solve any problem."

Beijing said it had proposed its own statement on North Korea but it "fell on deaf ears of the US."

The US draft resolution up for vote Thursday calls for a reduction in the amount of oil that North Korea can legally import each year for civilian purposes from four million to three million barrels (525,000 to 393,750 tons).

It would similarly cut imports of refined petroleum from 500,000 to 375,000 barrels.

The resolution would also impose further sanctions on North Korean exports including of clocks, watches and mineral fuels.

The United States and South Korea say that North Korea fired three missiles, including possibly its largest ICBM, hours after President Joe Biden closed a visit to the region.

One UN envoy whose country is on the Security Council, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the "huge threat" posed by North Korea's actions, but indicated the US decision to push for a quick vote could still backfire.

"A division of the Security Council on this crisis would be bad," the envoy said, noting the high stakes on the nuclear proliferation issue.

"If the draft is rejected, I'm afraid it will just be good news for the young leader of the DPRK," the ambassador said, adding that such a rift on the council would make it more difficult to "increase the pressure" on Pyongyang.



Russia Says It Cannot Accept US Proposals on Ukraine ‘In Current Form’

 A view shows ruins of buildings in the abandoned town of Marinka (Maryinka), which was destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, April 1, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows ruins of buildings in the abandoned town of Marinka (Maryinka), which was destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, April 1, 2025. (Reuters)
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Russia Says It Cannot Accept US Proposals on Ukraine ‘In Current Form’

 A view shows ruins of buildings in the abandoned town of Marinka (Maryinka), which was destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, April 1, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows ruins of buildings in the abandoned town of Marinka (Maryinka), which was destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, April 1, 2025. (Reuters)

Russia cannot accept US proposals to end the war in Ukraine in their current form because they do not address problems Moscow regards as having caused the conflict, a senior Russian diplomat said, suggesting US-Russia talks on the subject had stalled.

The comments by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov suggest Moscow and Washington have so far been unable to bridge differences which President Vladimir Putin raised more than two weeks ago when he said US proposals needed reworking.

They come as US President Donald Trump appears to be growing increasingly impatient with what he has suggested might be foot-dragging over a wider deal by Moscow.

Trump in recent days has said he is "pissed off" with Putin and has spoken of imposing sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking a deal.

Ryabkov, a specialist in US-Russia relations, said Moscow was not yet able to move forward with a deal however.

"We take the models and solutions proposed by the Americans very seriously, but we can't accept it all in its current form," Ryabkov was quoted by state media as telling the Russian magazine "International Affairs" in an interview released on Tuesday.

"As far as we can see, there is no place in them today for our main demand, namely to solve the problems related to the root causes of this conflict. It is completely absent, and that must be overcome."

Putin has said he wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join NATO, Russia to control the entirety of four Ukrainian regions it has claimed as its own, and the size of the Ukrainian army to be limited. Kyiv says those demands are tantamount to demanding its capitulation.

'VERY COMPLEX'

Asked about Trump's latest remarks about wanting Putin to do a deal on Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier on Tuesday that Moscow was "continuing our contacts with the American side".

"The subject is very complex. The substance that we are discussing, related to the Ukrainian settlement, is very complex. This requires a lot of extra effort."

Russia also said on Tuesday it was fully complying with a US-brokered moratorium on attacking Ukraine's energy facilities.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told state TV that Defense Minister Andrei Belousov had briefed Putin on alleged Ukrainian violations during a meeting of Russia's Security Council on Tuesday. Russia passed a list of the violations to US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lavrov said.

Before the weekend, Trump had taken a more conciliatory stance towards Russia that has unnerved the United States' European allies as he tries to broker an end to the conflict in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.

But in recent days, and amid lobbying by Europeans such as Finland's president urging him to hold Russia to account, he has adopted a tougher tone.