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Thursday, July 19, 2018, 13:53
Russia urges UN to mull easing DPRK sanctions
By Reuters
Thursday, July 19, 2018, 13:53 By Reuters

This June 11, 2018 general view shows the Juche tower and city skyline in Pyongyang. (ED JONES / AFP)

MOSCOW/UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON – Russia's envoy to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Wednesday it would be logical to raise the question of easing DPRK sanctions with the United Nations Security Council.

The positive change on the Korean peninsula is now obvious 

Alexander Matsegora, Russia's envoy to the DPRK

The call from the Russian envoy came  as the United States pushes for a halt to refined petroleum exports to Pyongyang. 

"The positive change on the Korean peninsula is now obvious," the RIA news agency quotes ambassador Alexander Matsegora as saying.

Russia is ready to help modernize the DPRK’s energy system if sanctions were lifted and if Pyongyang can find funding for the modernization, he added. 

READ MORE: After DPRK put-down, Pompeo stands by denuclearization talks

In a bid to choke off funding for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, the UN Security Council has unanimously boosted sanctions on the DPRK since 2006, banning exports including coal, iron, lead, textiles and seafood and capping imports of crude oil and refined petroleum products. 

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to informally brief UN Security Council envoys along with the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan on Friday. 

Diplomats say they expect Pompeo to stress the need to maintain pressure on the DPRK during his briefing. 

In a tweet on Wednesday President Donald Trump said he elicited a promise from Russian President Vladimir Putin to help negotiate with the DPRK but did not say how. He also said: "There is no rush, the sanctions remain!" 

The US accused the DPRK last week of breaching a UN sanctions cap on refined petroleum by making illicit transfers between ships at sea and demanded an immediate end to all sales of the fuel. 

ALSO READ: DPRK, US hold talks on return of US soldiers' remains

The US submitted the complaint to the Security Council’s DPRK sanctions committee, which is due to decide whether it will tell all UN member states to halt all transfers of refined petroleum to Pyongyang. 

Such decisions are made by consensus.

Asked on June 13 about whether sanctions should be loosened, Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said: "We should be thinking about steps in that direction because inevitably there is progress on the track that should be reciprocal, that should be a two-way street. The other side should see encouragement to go forward." 

Meanwhile, Pompeo said reaching a denuclearization deal with the DPRL "may take some time," reiterating that sanctions would continue to be enforced in the meantime.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting chaired by President Trump, Pompeo, who held inconclusive talks in the DPRK earlier this month, said progress had been made on some issues. 

"There's a lot of work to do. It may take some time to get where we need to go. But all of this will be taking place against the backdrop of continued enforcement of existing sanctions," he said. 

Pompeo said the DPRK had reaffirmed its commitment to give up its nuclear weapons and that progress had been made on arranging the return of remains of US soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War. 

"I think in the next couple weeks we'll have the first remains returned. That's the commitment," Pompeo said, adding that the issue was very important for the families involved.

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